 The first mention of Jewish paper cutting can be found in the treatise "The fight of the pen and the scissors” by a 14th-century rabbi, Shem Tov ben Isaac ben Ardutiel (1290-1369), who describes how he decided to cut letters in paper when his ink became frozen during a harsh winter.To students of Christian Spanish literary history, Rabbi Shem Tov is known as Santob de Carrion de los Condes, the courtly Castilian troubadour who composed the Proverbios morales for Pedro the Cruel.Paper cutting as a folk craft gained popularity in the nineteenth century when paper became a cheap material.