That demand for endearing imperfection is also helping to sustain one of the country’s oldest papermaking traditions.
Jim Patterson, 79, owner of Two Rivers Paper in Watchet, Somerset, still makes paper using techniques that pre-date the invention of the paper machine in 1806.
Using unbleached cotton and linen rather than wood, the company produces paper by hand for fine artists, watercolour painters and bookbinders.
“The difference between anything that’s made by hand, and that which is made on a machine, is the consistency of it,” he said.
“We sell imperfection, and that’s attractive for some. It’s not ‘unreliable’, it’s the measure of craftsmanship.”
In an age of AI-generated images and machine-manufactured products, it may be those imperfections that keep some of Britain’s oldest skills alive.
