A paperfolding paradise

The website of writer and paperfolding designer David Mitchell

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When folded from a napkin, the modern version of this design is usually called the Bishop's Mitre.

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1855

As far as I know diagrams for this design, called the Mitre and folded from a napkin, first appear in 'The Practical Housewife' by Robert Kemp Philp, which was published in London by Ward & Lock in 1855. My thanks to Joan Sallas for this reference.

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1863

The same design, this time folded from a 2:3 sheet of paper, and called 'De pijpendop' (the pipe cap) appears in 'De Kleine Papierwerkers 1: Wat men van een stukje papier al maken kan: Het vouwen' (The Small Paperwork 1: What one can make from a piece of paper: Folding) by Elise Van Calcar, which was published by K H Schadd in Amsterdam in 1863. The design is also called a 'kleine bisschopsmutje' (little bishop's hat) in the text.

In this dialogue, from page 9, Aunt Mina says, roughly, 'Hey brother, can you still make the pipecap that old cousin Koosje taught us as children?', to which he replies, '... I still see her sitting there that evening when she taught us to make a grasshopper (ie the Cocotte) out of paper. I left all my toys for that thing ...'.

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1931

Diagrams for a very similar design appeared under the title of 'Bishop's Crown' in 'Origami (Part 1)' by Isao Honda, which was published in Japan in 1931.

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1997

In 1997 the Hong Kong Origami Society published diagrams drawn by Janson Chow which presented what was essentially the same design as a Yuan Bao or folded paper version of a traditional gold ingot.

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