Sugar paper

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Bill Ebner

New member
  I read in Mussey's book on the Seymours, that the blue paper used for drawer linings was sugar paper. They were small sheets pieced neatly together.  Does anyone know the size and shape of these papers?

Has anyone used any paper currently available that reproduces that sugar paper?

Thanks,

Bill Ebner
 
Bill, while you mention the Seymours pieced small sheets of sugar paper together, in England, atlas (34" x 26") sheets of sugar paper were pasted onto drawer bottoms. I have some old sugar paper and it's quite a soft, thick, loose paper.

I have seen large rolls of paper that are used in kindergartens for the children to paint on which resembles ? at least, in weight and texture ? sugar paper. I believe it's called construction paper and is also available in various colours.
 
I would be extremely cautious about using construction papers. Like newsprint, they are quite high in acid content. This won't affect the wood vary much, but any cellulose material like paper will turn brown from contact in a few years. You would be better off buying acid-free buffered blotter paper and dyeing it.
 
I am sure an art supply store or a printer would have what you want. You need to know the color and texture. I agree the construction paper is high acid and is not very color fast. If it looks right it is right.
 
Bill,
It is my understanding that "sugar paper", so called because it was used to wrap cones of sugar called sugar "loaves", was made  from cloth dyed with indego dye .  Indigo dye is unusual in that it does not require a mordant, and was raised as a crop and processed commonly on plantations in tropical areas.

The blue paper that it produced when the dyed cloth was beaten and formed into paper is very close in color to the blue background on this site postings, at least on my monitor.

It was traditionally used for many of the documents related to the indentured servants ( really more like post-slaves) in the official Chinese system of laborers transported to work in the Cuban sugar industry in the 1800s, and I have some such original; documents in my collection.

I know that you can purchase reproductions of the traditional sugar loaves wrapped in blue paper and wax sealed, but not whether this paper is authentic.

Karl
 
Do you think handmade paper made from blue jeans cut-offs would work?

Wesley
 

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I'm wrapping up construction of a William and Mary valuables chest and I was looking for a source of appropriate paper to line the drawers.  I found this online:
http://www.staples.com/Construction-Paper-9-inch-x-12-inch-Light-Blue/product_402795?externalize=certona

It is a similar color to the light blue sugar paper that was referenced earlier and is acid free.  I plan to stop by the Staples tonight and buy a pack. The price is certainly right.
 
zdillinger said:
I'm wrapping up construction of a William and Mary valuables chest and I was looking for a source of appropriate paper to line the drawers.  I found this online:
http://www.staples.com/Construction-Paper-9-inch-x-12-inch-Light-Blue/product_402795?externalize=certona

It is a similar color to the light blue sugar paper that was referenced earlier and is acid free.  I plan to stop by the Staples tonight and buy a pack. The price is certainly right.
Click to expand...

That's the stuff I was referring to, though I've seen it in much larger sheets which is what was traditionally used in England at least.

With regards to lining the drawers of your William and Mary chest, are you aware sugar paper lining didn't appear until about 1750? If you want to incorporate paper lining in your chest, a more appropriate lining might be brown paper with a block printed diaper pattern or a coloured floral pattern simulating crewel work ? also highly popular at the time.

I have some images of printed lining paper I could share, but the image size restriction here won't permit me to attach them.
 
I've never chosen to line drawers with paper before, so I'm not familiar with the appropriate papers for William and Mary.  I would be very interested in receiving the images of period appropriate paper, if you could email them to me. My email is zacharydillinger@gmail.com.


 
My wife just returned from Michael's Art and Craft store with 3 framed Tasha Tudor prints and they had used a "heavy" paper to seal up the back. This paper was the exact shade of the paper that our sugar cone, from Williamsburg, is wrapped in. Perhaps Michael's has the paper that you're looking for? I can send a photo of the back of one of these prints so that you can see the shade of blue. Let me know.

http://locations.michaels.com/
 
Thanks all, for the replies. I'm going to order a cone from Townsend, to see what type and size of paper is used. Another source of cones is Deborahs Pantry; she sells period food stuffs. Although, her documentation talks about a purple paper.

I hadn't though of Staples; I'l check that out. I did find some paper at a Michaels craft store which is used (I think) for scrap booking; but it seems a bit heavy.

If that paper was originally available in larger sheets in England, I won't be too concerned about using a smaller paper.

JackPlane-is it possible to see a photo of the original paper that you have?

Thanks,

Bill
 
I don't know if this will help. Period paper wall coverings:  adelphipaperhangings.com an excellent reproducer ( reproductionist ) of period wall coverings from the same period.
 
Bill, I wouldn't give much credence to what ever the sugar cones are wrapped up in: There is no onus on Townsend to precisely match the paper. I would suspect they actually use a food safe/approved blue paper of what ever colour and composition their supplier happened to have.

I could take a photo of the sugar paper I have and while it may show a fair representation of the colour, it won't show the weight or texture. If the construction paper at Staples is the same weight and texture as the construction paper I've seen, then it's as close to the real thing as any.
 
I'd offer to share some of what I had shipped to me (it will take me a lifetime to use up 100 sheets), but with Staples you get free shipping and the paper costs next to nothing, so it would be cheaper to just buy a pack.
 
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