A pope was crowned in a paper tiara, and it was no joke
When Pius VII was crowned in Venice on 21 March 1800, the papal tiara he wore was papier-mâché. The humble mix of scrap paper and paste began in Han dynasty China around 200 CE, and has since produced warrior helmets, Persian book covers, Kashmiri mosque ceilings and Italian saints.
There are two basic routes. In one, torn strips are soaked in paste and layered over a mould or a wire skeleton, then left to dry slowly. In the other, paper is soaked overnight or boiled until it collapses into pulp, drained, mixed with glue and modelled directly. The classic adhesive is flour and water stirred to the thickness of heavy cream; salt or oil of cloves discourages mould, and methyl cellulose, one part powder to 16 parts hot water, is non-toxic but not waterproof. Painting before the glue has fully dried invites rot from the inside.
Chinese makers of the Han era used the technique for helmets, mirror cases and ceremonial masks soon after they learned to make paper. In Persia from the 16th century, bookbinders favoured it over leather because paint gripped paper better, a taste that lasted into the Qajar period in Tabriz and Isfahan. Japan's Sendai hariko tigers, rabbits and Daruma dolls were given to children as protective charms, and in Ladakh, pulp mixed with clay and cotton becomes vivid masks of deities for monastery plays.
Kashmir tells two origin stories: one credits the Sufi mystic Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani and his craftsmen in the 14th century, the other King Zain-ul-Abidin, who invited artists from Central Asia in the 15th. The painted ceiling of the central pavilion in Jahangir's Shalimar Bagh has survived for almost 400 years, and Kashmir Paper Machie now enjoys protected Geographic Indication status in India, though fewer artisans can make a living from it.
Europe picked up the craft in the 15th century for reliefs and nativity scenes. After the Counter-Reformation, workshops mass-produced faithful copies of revered images, including a Madonna by Donatello now in the Louvre, and Bologna and Faenza became centres of cartapesta. Lecce, in Puglia, still specialises in it, with a museum in the Castle of Charles V, while Viareggio builds its carnival floats the same way.
Source: Papier-mâché
