The direction of cardboard
The direction of cardboard
The direction of cardboard
Cartonnage History
Cartonnage is a very old technique since it was born in Egypt between -945 and -715 BC under the XXIIth Dynasty. Linen or papyrus strips soaked in a plaster-based coating made up the "cardboard". The mummies were wrapped in this mixture and once dry, they were decorated and prayers or incantations were written on them. The whole thing was then placed in the sarcophagus or tomb.
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Contrary to popular belief, Cartonnage as a creative leisure activity has been practiced for a long time. As proof, the book "Art de construire en Cartonnage" by A. de Becourt which was published in 1828. However the structures (baskets, boxes, writing desks...) were not covered with paper or fabric as now but they were colored then varnished, silvered or gilded.
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The Valréas boxes, whose first ones contained silkworm eggs, are the closest to what we know.
Contrary to popular belief, cartonnage, as a creative hobby, has been practiced for a long time. As a proof, the book "Art de construire en cartonnage" of A. de Becourt which was published in 1828, or the one of M. Lebrun "Manuel du cartonnier, du cartier et du fabricant de cartonnages" of 1830 which specifies moreover that it is the "art of making any kind of paper work for the instruction and the amusement of the young people of both sexes". However the structures (baskets, boxes, writing cases...) were not covered with paper or fabric as they are now but they were colored and then varnished, silvered or gilded.
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The boxes from Valréas, the first of which contained silkworm seeds, are the closest to what we know.
Their creation of cartonnage follows a conversation between a handyman barber, Ferdinand Revoul, with his sericulturist client, Mr. Meynard. The story takes place in Valréas, in Vaucluse, in the middle of the 19th century.
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The region was then a very important center of sericulture. A serious epidemic had decimated the silkworms and the Meynard family had been forced to make frequent trips to Japan and China to buy and bring back eggs. However, when crossing the Red Sea, due to particularly high humidity, many died.
Ferdinand Revoul, who had an inventive spirit, suggested to his client to make him a box allowing the silkworm eggs to breathe while preserving them from the outside. There was already a box covered with holes made for this purpose in Germany, then the only producer of cardboard boxes, but Mr. Meynard had experienced it: it was hardly solid.
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This is how the “draught box” was born, a box fitted with a mesh window or better distributed holes, manufactured by the very new Revoul Company.
From the 1870s, a parallel development can be observed in the cardboard industry; the printing and lithography business where typographers, engravers and printers created labels. The cardboard boxes then constitute an advertising support of choice.
On the one hand, the die-cutting workshops contributed to give the boxes original and attractive shapes and, on the other hand, the printing industry made it possible to transform the neutral packaging into a personalized box, to make it an attractive, even luxurious object.
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The company soon began to produce boxes for pharmacists as well, and thanks to the quality of its manufacture, it found other increasingly important opportunities such as boxes and other cases for jewellers, photographers, perfumers, chocolate makers and dentists.
The Revoul establishments closed their doors in 1950 after having manufactured boxes for a century and distributed them all over the world, but they left us a formidable legacy.
Our creative hobby, therefore, is not so far from its primary function, since it lies in making useful and decorative objects decorated with fabrics or papers that are increasingly fancy or sophisticated.
Already in "Cartonnage" (1957) Jean Pavier, the author, recommends his apprenticeship in summer camps because it is "educational by the qualities of order, cleanliness, patience" and it is true that it often requires concentration and meticulousness but remains anyway within everyone's reach. Thanks to numerous books by French, Japanese, Russian and Brazilian designers, everyone can learn about it, and it is also taught in the form of classes, either in clubs or virtually.
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Let's bet that cardboard is not about to disappear.
Sources
http://provence-historique.mmsh.univ-aix.fr
https://www.dromeprovencale.fr/patrimoine-culturel/musee-du-cartonnage-et-de-limprimerie/
Musée du cartonnage et de l'imprimerie de Valréas
"Mémoires du cartonnage de Valréas", Jean-Pierre Locci, Magali Baussan-Wilczynski, L’Imagier, Equinoxe-ASPPIV, 1994
"Cartonnage" Jean Pavier et L.C. Micollet-Bayard, Editions du scarabée, 1957
"Art de construire en cartonnage toute sorte d'ouvrages d'utilité et d'agrément" A. de Bécourt, Audot, 1828