Object Timeline

-0001

1982

  • Work on this object began.

1985

  • We acquired this object.

2009

2013

2014

2024

  • You found it!

Cut Paper, Noah's Ark

This is a Cut paper. It was created by Ernst Oppliger. It is dated 1982 and we acquired it in 1985. Its medium is cut black paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

The craft of paper cutting has been practiced widely and continuously in Switzerland since the eighteenth century. Traditionally, the paper cuts were religious in subject matter (“cloister art”) or depicted the Swiss landscape and the animals and mountain folk who occupied it. Several of today’s paper cutters in Switzerland are adapting traditional subjects in a more personal manner to create designs in cut paper that are innovative and varied. Among them, Ernst Opplinger is the most spectacular form the point of view of the refinement of cutting, the large size, and the sophistication of the design. As the Cooper-Hewitt collection of cut paper has no example by Swiss craftsmen in this medium, we are anxious to acquire this superb sheet.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Noah's Ark.

It is credited This acquisition was made possible through the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.

  • Book, Winnie-the-Pooh
  • printed paper.
  • PR6025 . I65W5 1926; Courtesy of the Smithsonian Libraries, Washington, DC.
  • 28.2012.3
  • Cut Paper, Bouquet
  • decoupage, pen and black ink on white wove paper.
  • Museum purchase through gift of Elizabeth E. Roth and from General....
  • 1985-51-1

Our curators have highlighted 9 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Hexagon Plate
  • porcelain, enamel, gilding.
  • The Henry and Ludmilla Shapiro Collection; Partial gift and partial purchase....
  • 1989-41-33

Its dimensions are

Sheet: 60.3 cm (23 3/4 in.) Frame H x W x D: 85.7 x 85.7 x 2.5 cm (33 3/4 in. x 33 3/4 in. x 1 in.)

Cite this object as

Cut Paper, Noah's Ark; Ernst Oppliger (Swiss, b. 1950); Switzerland; cut black paper; Sheet: 60.3 cm (23 3/4 in.) Frame H x W x D: 85.7 x 85.7 x 2.5 cm (33 3/4 in. x 33 3/4 in. x 1 in.); This acquisition was made possible through the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation; 1985-22-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18804985/ |title=Cut Paper, Noah's Ark |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=25 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>