| The Public Paperfolding History Project
Last updated 18/2/2025 x |
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| The Paperfolding Designs of Miguel de Unamuno | |||||||
| This
page is being used to collect information about the
paperfolding designs of Miguel de Unamuno. Please contact
me if you know any of this information on this page is
incorrect or if you have any other information that
should be added. Thank you. There are approximately 20 designs (apart from his Pajarita variations) which can be shown from documentary evidence to be Unamuno's own original designs. (The exact number will depend on which of the Upright and Standing Bird designs you consider the same / different and whether or not you count the Monkey as his design.) In the Prologo-epilogo to the revised 1934 edition of 'Apuntes para un tratado de cocotología' he also claims to have created an eagle, and a monster. There are unfortunately no illustrations of these designs and we therefore cannot know what they looked like or how they were folded. A design which looks to me like a cormorant is shown in a portrait of Don Miguel by Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (1870 – 1945), which was painted in 1925 but is not mentioned in any other source. In his 'Creacion en papiroflexia', published by Miguel A Salvatella in Barcelona in 1979, Vicente Palacios provides illustrations of several other paperfolds which he attributes to Don Miguel. These include designs which I have not otherwise listed on this page (the Escarabajo (Beetle), Estrella (Star), Gondola (Gondola), Jirafa (Giraffe), Oso (Bear), Pajara de cola baja (Bird with low tail), Pajara paseando (Walking bird), Rinoceronte (Rhinocerous) since I am not aware of any evidence that would verify their attribution to Unamuno. I believe these attributions may be the result of a misreading of the section about Unamuno's designs in Solorzano's 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior'. *********** Unamuno's Upright Birds This is a title I use to group together all the various upright birds designed by Miguel de Unamuno which are sometimes referred to as the Avechucho (Ugly bird) or as the Vulture etc. The bodies of all these designs are similar, what varies is the detail of the head and especially the beak. 1902 A version of this design first appeared as 'The Perfect Paper Pajarita' in a letter from Unamuno, published under the title of 'Por una Pajarita' in issue 178 of 'Caras y Caretas' of 1st March 1902.
********** 1908 Issue 487 of the Buenos Aires edition of the magazine 'Caras y Caretas', published in February 1908 contained a three-page laudatory article about Miguel de Unamuno which included a picture of him folding 'pajaritas de papel' at his desk. Two of the designs in the picture are variants of the Upright Bird.
********** 1922 A drawing of another upright bird variation appears in an essay titled 'Unamuno, Venegas y la cocotologia' in 'Varaciones' by Ramon Gomez de la Serna,which was published by Publicaciones Atenea in Madrid in 1922.
********** 1924 The 1st May 1924 issue of the French periodical 'Revue des Deux Mondes' contained an article titled 'Avec Miguel de Unamuno a Salamanque' by Andre Corthis. It contains a description of Don Miguel's study which mentions that 'At the edge of the inkwell was perched a vulture of white paper'. *********** 1925 Three upright bird variants were illustrated in an article about Miguel de Unamuno which was published in 'Plus Ultra' in December 1925.
********** This portrait of Don Miguel by Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (1870 – 1945), which was painted in 1925. One is clearly a version of the upright bird.
********** In October 1928 an interview with Unamuno entitled 'Miguel de Unamuno - der Baskische Bildhauer' (the Basque Sculptor), by Edda Reinhardt, was published in Berlin in the avante-garde magazine 'Der Querschnitt'. It was illustrated by photographs of Don Miguel and several paperfolds, including an upright bird.
********** 1936 There are three, fundamentally similar, portraits of Don Miguel by Jose Gutierrez Solana (1886-1945), all signed in 1936, though possibly painted earlier, and all of which include a version of the Upright Bird.
********** This example of the Upright Bird design, was signed and dated, and presumably also folded, by Don Miguel on 16th December 1936, just two weeks before his death.
********** 1945 The 'Avechucho' design also appears in a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno in 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945.
********** 1964 A version of the Upright Bird design appears as Unamuno's Vulture in 'Secrets of Origami', by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne Book Company in London in 1964.
********** Unamuno's Standing Birds 1925 Three standing bird variants were illustrated in an article about Miguel de Unamuno which was published in 'Plus Ultra' in December 1925.
********** 1932 On 3rd December 1932 the magazine 'Estampa', published in Madrid, carried a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding which included photographs of several other of his standing bird designs:
********** 1945 1945 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo, which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945, contains a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno which contains photographs of the three standing bird variants from 'Estampa' magazine. Pajara Paseanda
********** Pajara Picando
********** Pajara de pico largo
********** Unamuno's Duck (Pato) 1925 A drawing of this design appears in an article titled 'Cocotologia' which was published in 'Plus Ultra' in December 1925.
********** 1934 Don Miguel claims to have invented a pato / duck design in the Prologo-epilogo to the revised 1934 edition of 'Apuntes para un tratado de cocotología'. ********** Unamuno's Swan (Cisne) 1932 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** 1945 This design also appears in a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno in 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945.
********** 1934 Don Miguel claims to have invented a cisne / swan design in the Prologo-epilogo to the revised 1934 edition of 'Apuntes para un tratado de cocotología'. ********** Unamuno's Owl (Buho) 1932 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** Unamuno's Penguin (Pinguino) In his memoir 'Un recuerdo puro' published in 1910, Unamuno claimed to have invented a penguin. There is no accompanying illustration.
********** Unamuno's Teapot 1932 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** 1945 The design also appears in a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno in 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945.
********** 1951 This design appeared as 'La Cafetera' (The Coffeemaker) in the extended version of 'El Mundo de Papel' by Dr Nemesio Montero, which was published by G Miranda in Edicions Infancia in Valladolid in 1951
********** 1964 The design also appears in 'Secrets of Origami', by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne Book Company in London in 1964, although it is attributed to N. Montero in error.
********** Unamuno's Table 1910 A 'coffee table' is mentioned in Don Miguel's memoir 'Un recuerdo puro' published in 1910, but there is no illustration to allow the design to be identified. ********** 1922 Don Miguel's claim to have invented a 'mesita' (little table) is reported in 'Varaciones' by Ramon Gomez de la Serna, which was published in 1922. The design is not illustrated in this article but it is described as 'of the kind called Empire.' The passage in question, found on page 193, reads, roughly, 'Ghandi, when he saw me make a small table of the type that you call Empire, that I had invented, he told me: "You are an architect"'. ********** 1932 A photograph of a table design appears in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** 1956 Diagrams for 'The Table', attributed to Unamuno, appear in 'Paper Magic' by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne in London in 1956.
********** Unamuno's Fly (Mosca) 1928 A version of this design appears in a photograph in an article about Unamuno entitled 'Miguel de Unamuno - der Baskische Bildhauer' (the Basque Sculptor), which was published in Berlin in the avante-garde magazine 'Der Querschnitt' in October 1928.
This design is very similar to a design for a Cicada which appeared in 'Kindergarten Shoho' (Preliminary Kindergarten) by Iijima Hanjuro, which was published in August 1885. It is not clear, however, how Unamuno could have learned this design from a Japanese source and it is likely that it was independently originated by him. ********** 1951 Diagrams for this design were published as 'La Mosca' (The Fly) in the extended version of 'El Mundo de Papel' by Dr Nemesio Montero, which was published by G Miranda in Edicions Infancia in Valladolid in 1951.
********** Unamuno's Pig (Cerdo) 1922 A description of how the Cerdo came to be invented can be found in 'Varaciones' by Ramon Gomez de la Serna, which was published in 1922. The design is not illustrated in this article. The passage about the pig, found on page 192, reads, roughly, 'This little pig was invented by me, and under extraordinary circumstances. Between a friend of mine, today a professor and an excellent cocotte scientist, and I, we set ourselves the problem of building a quadruped. Only four extremities emerge from the fundamental fold, which serve for a bird with two legs, beak and tail; but for the quadruped it was necessary to get six: four legs, head and tail. My friend investigated empirically, atrociously, tearing up papers, and did not succeed. I went to bed ... In the morning, when I got up, I took a paper, and the first time what you see came out; and I tell you in all seriousness that it takes much more imagination and acuity than to write a poem and ... much more than preparing a speech ... to provoke a ministerial crisis.' ********** 1925 A drawing of the pig design appears in an article titled 'Cocotologia' which was published in 'Plus Ultra' in December 1925.
********** 1928 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in an article about Unamuno entitled 'Miguel de Unamuno - der Baskische Bildhauer' (the Basque Sculptor), which was published in Berlin in the avante-garde magazine 'Der Querschnitt' in October 1928.
********** 1932 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** 1945 This design also appears in a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno in 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945.
********** (Not?) Unamuno's Chimpanzee Note that on the basis of information obtained by his father, Felix Gimeno, from some of Unamuno's children, Juan Gimeno believes that this design was invented by his son, Paul, rather than Unamuno himself. ********** 1922 A drawing of this design appears in a column by Ramon Gomez de la Serna titled La vida - La evolucion de la pajarita', which appeared in the newspaper 'El Liberal' on 5th April 1922. The same drawing appears in Ramon Gomez de la Serna's book 'Variaciones', which was also also published in 1922. Note that the design shown in this picture clearly has two back legs so cannot be developed from a bird base unless the legs have been separated by a cut. It is more likely that it is uncut and developed from a frog base, which provides the necessary number of points.
********** 1925 A drawing of this design also appears in an article titled 'Cocotologia' which was published in 'Plus Ultra' in December 1925.
********** 1934 Don Miguel claims to have invented a mono / monkey design in the Prologo-epilogo to the revised 1934 edition of 'Apuntes para un tratado de cocotología'. ********** 1945 A 'Mono' design appears in a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno in 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945. However, this design is clearly folded from a bird base and has only one back leg.
********** 1964 A version of this design appears in 'Secrets of Origami', by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne Book Company in London in 1964. Note, however, that this version is folded from a bird base and only has one back leg.
********** Unamuno's Seal (Foca) 1932 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** 1945 A version of this design also appears in a section devoted to the designs of Unamuno in 'Tratado de Papiroflexia Superior' by Vicente Solorzano Sagredo which was published in Buenos Aires in 1945.
********** 1934 Don Miguel claims to have invented a foca / seal design in the Prologo-epilogo to the revised 1934 edition of 'Apuntes para un tratado de cocotología'. ********** Unamuno's Lion 1925 A drawing of this design appears in an article titled 'Cocotologia' which was published in 'Plus Ultra' in December 1925.
********** Unamuno's Elephant 1910 In his memoir 'Un recuerdo puro' published in 1910, Unamuno mentions a design for an elephant. He does not specifically claim it as his own design but this must surely be the implication. There is no accompanying illustration.
********** 1959 The exhibition catalogue for the 'Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures' exhibition held at the Cooper Union Museum in New York in the Summer of 1959 listed a number of Don Miguel's designs, including an Elephant. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to locate a photograph of the exhibition which shows this design.
********** Unamuno's Sphinx 1932 A photograph of this design appears in a photograph in a two page article about Don Miguel's paperfolding in 'Estampa' magazine in Madrid on 3rd December 1932.
********** 1956 Diagrams for 'The Sphinx', attributed to Unamuno, appear in 'Paper Magic' by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne in London in 1956.
The Introduction states:
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