António João Cruz*, Luciana Barros and Leonor Loureiro Perforated Cardboards: A Support for Embroidery Used for Various Everyday Objects in the Victorian Age https://doi.org/10.1515/res-2018-0021 Received December 02, 2018; revised January 15, 2019; accepted February 06, 2019 Abstract: Perforated cardboards were common and economic supports for embroidery in the Victorian Era. Despite their popularity, they had a brief life and are almost forgotten today. Different types of cardboard were chosen according to the materials and techniques to be applied. This article presents nineteenth century documentary sources on perforated cardboard and its use in various objects of everyday life. The types of cardboard, commercialization, decorative techniques and motifs and applied materials will be discussed. Keywords: perforated cardboard, embroidery, victorian objects 1 Introduction Perforated cardboards are stiff cards with small perforations at regular distances intended to be embroidered (Figure 1) (Hartley 1860, 100). They were created in the late eighteenth century, when needlework was a common occupation. The support was cheaper and easier to work than fabric which made it popular in the Victorian era (Dutcher 2012). Perforated cardboards were also known as punch papers, punched papers, punch boards, punched boards, perforated cards, perforated card-boards and Bristol boards. They have some mechanical stability, but may break or tear upon use (Cassells Domestic Dictionary 1884, 879–880). Consequently, not many perfo- rated cardboard objects are preserved today, especially three-dimensional ones. In the nineteenth century, many everyday objects were made of perforated cardboards, including embroideries of mottoes, bookmarks and boxes, but they are *Corresponding author: António João Cruz, Instituto Politecnico de Tomar, Tomar, Portugal; Laboratório HERCULES, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal, E-mail: ajcruz@ipt.pt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6396-5027 Luciana Barros, Leonor Loureiro, Instituto Politecnico de Tomar, Tomar, Portugal Restaur. 2019; 40(1): 35–67