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Last updated 11/12/2025

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This Kindergarten Example Book made by Helen Stanley Dunbar (otherwise unknown) is said to date from c1890, although there is no specific evidence for this date in the work. It is in the collection of The Libraries and Archives of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Inter alia it contains examples of Folds of Life (some arranged to form patterns) and Folds of Beauty (some arranged as mosaics).

Some of the pages are marked 'Inventions', presumably meaning that the author had worked the designs on these pages out for herself, something that she would no doubt have been encouraged to do during her training.

A full copy of this work can be accessed online here.

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Analysis

The author's initial notes about Folding are that it 'Emphasises the idea of sequence' and 'Shows the relation of Mathematics to Artistics'.

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The first few pages in this section have Folds of Life attached to the pages, some of them arranged to form patterns (Forms of Beauty). The designs are:

The Trousers

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The Jacket

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The Cigar Case

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The King's Crown

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The Cross

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The Queen's Crown

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The Paper Boat

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The Vase

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The Windmill

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The Boat with Sail

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The later pages have Folds of Beauty attached to the pages. On the first such page the top left design is the Windmill Base and the remainder of the designs in the album all appear to have been developed from this base.

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Some of the Folds of Beauty are arranged to form mosaics.

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Two of the Folds of Beauty are presented surrounded by cut elements, which seem to have been developed from a square of the same size and colour as the folded centrepiece.

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