Archival Material from the Paper Legacy Collection
The Paper Legacy Collection includes rare and unique items which contribute to the understanding of the artists’ products and careers. They include correspondence, customer orders, paint recipes, tools, journals, sample books, and other objects which shed invaluable light on artists’ business relations, personal and professional histories, and working methods. The materials in this case are from the collections of Peggy Skycraft, Jack Townes, John Coventry, Sage Reynolds, and Colman Rutkin.
Peggy Skycraft (b. 1941) and
Jack Townes (b. 1953)
Three recipe books with paint colors and corresponding paper samples for 1987–89, 1990–92, and 1992.
Peggy Skycraft, of Estacada, Oregon, kept fastidious records throughout her career, including orders and invoices, correspondence, documentation of technical experiments, proprietary custom paint recipes, and marbled paper and textile sample books. These books include recipes created for bookbinders, art stores, designers, and commercial businesses, including Kate’s Paperie, New York Central Supply Co., Dean Fransell, and Ethan Allen Corporation.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Peggy Skycraft and Jack Townes
Photograph of Peggy Skycraft, Gresham, Oregon. Photographed by Barbara Gundle, ca. 1977.
In this photograph, Peggy Skycraft is shown at the beginning of her career, happily applying colors onto the surface of a marbling bath in her first studio in Gresham, Oregon.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Peggy Skycraft and Jack Townes
Correspondence from Rita to Peggy Skycraft with marbled decoration and attached bobby pins, July 8, 1989.
Rita, whose last name is not shown, is noted here to be an assistant at the Jack C. Thompson Conservation Lab in Portland, Oregon. This is a Thank You note from Rita to Skycraft for a visit to her studio with book artist and conservator, Hedi Kyle. Rita offers Skycraft her tips on making marbling combs with bobby pins.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Peggy Skycraft and Jack Townes
Correspondence from client Dean Fransell to Peggy Skycraft.
This letter refers to marbled paper made by Peggy Skycraft for Dean Fransell’s kaleidoscope business. The collage-like letter with paper samples for matching and ordering, as well as Fransell’s commentary, is one of many such resources to be found in Skycraft’s archive in the Paper Legacy Collection. Fransell, who worked for General Mills, also hired Skycraft to demonstrate the marbling of food, including lasagna.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Peggy Skycraft and Jack Townes
John Coventry (b. 1943)
Fab Book, ca. 1971– ca. 1975. Manuscript album bound in marbled cloth, containing photographs, typescript, drawings, and paintings.
John Coventry, active 1971–present, produced marbled papers and textiles in San Francisco and Berkeley, California, in the 1970s, and sold them on Telegraph Avenue and at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. In true hippie fashion, he constructed his marbling tank from the inverted roof of a Volkswagen bus. The Fab Book documents Coventry’s philosophy of and experiments with marbling, including his thoughts about its connection to natural phenomenon.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of John Coventry
Sage Reynolds (b. 1948)
Recipe cards for custom paints for making paste paper, 1986–2015.
Sage Reynolds recorded his color recipes so he could later duplicate them. This recipe box includes 342 cards with color formulas and swatches for paste papers made from 1986 to 2015. The cards are divided into five thematic sections: In Use, Ellen’s Colors (Ellen Weldon Design), TALAS, Library, and Metallics.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
Sage’s Papers sample book, undated.
This is a typical sample book of twenty-five patterns designed by Sage Reynolds and his partner, Colman Rutkin. A sheet about gilding options and prices is attached to the inner back cover. The generous size of the samples in these books made them popular with artists who enjoyed using the swatches in their projects.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
Photograph of Sage Reynolds (left) and Colman Rutkin (right) with an assortment of their paste papers, 2019.
This photograph was taken during a studio visit to Reynolds’s and Rutkin’s Staten Island home and studio.
Courtesy of Mindell Dubansky
Terry Harlow (b. 1948)
Marbled papers. Hartford, CT: Bookworks, ca. 1970–1989.
Terry Harlow, active 1977–82, was a bookbinder who marbled papers with water-based proprietary colors in traditional patterns, geared towards hand bookbinders. Many of Harlow’s papers, some with notes on commissions, are included in this hand-bound volume. Fifteen sheets of the pattern shown were ordered by Carolyn Horton, a book restorer in New York City.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Terry Harlow
Terry Harlow (b. 1948)
Unique autograph book and box bound by Harlow. Hartford, CT: Bookworks, 1978–79.
Terry Harlow learned marbling from Don Guyot in 1977. He then created his own marbling teaching and supply business, Bookworks. During his teaching travels through North America, he collected autographs from students and bookbinders in this leather-bound blank book. Seen here is the autograph of book restorer Carolyn Horton of New York City.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Terry Harlow
Photograph of Terry Harlow rounding the spine of a book, ca. 1979.
This photograph was used by Harlow to advertise a course in The Art of the Book at the Guilford Art Center, Guilford, Connecticut, July 1990.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Terry Harlow