One of many cut paperworks in Cooper Hewitt’s collection made by the same (now anonymous) craftsperson, this incredibly intricate devotional card is an example of the paper-crafting technique scherenschnitte (German for “scissor cuts”).  Frequently used to embellish religious objects representing  saints and other figures well-known to the Catholic, Germanic world of the 18th century,  scherenschnitte...

Puss in Boots, hero of the English fairy tale of the same name, is one of ten storybook characters in a boxed set of Jointed Storybook Animals.  These articulated paper dolls were created by Bess Bruce Cleaveland (1876-1966), a children’s illustrator whose books, postcards, teaching materials, and educational toys were popular in the 1910s-1930s.  The...