
Paper marbling is a method of
aqueous
An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, also known as sodium chloride (NaCl), in wat ...
surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
or other kinds of
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a
viscous solution known as
size
Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or volume. Length can be generalized ...
, and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
or fabric. Through several centuries, people have applied marbled materials to a variety of surfaces. It is often employed as a writing surface for
calligraphy, and especially book covers and endpapers in
bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...
and
stationery. Part of its appeal is that each print is a unique
monotype.
Procedure

There are several methods for making marbled
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
s. A shallow tray is filled with water, and various kinds of ink or paint colors are carefully applied to the surface with an
ink brush. Various additives or
surfactant
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a Blend word, blend of "surface-active agent",
coined in ...
chemicals are used to help float the colors. A drop of "negative" color made of plain water with the addition of
surfactant
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a Blend word, blend of "surface-active agent",
coined in ...
is used to drive the drop of color into a ring. The process is repeated until the surface of the water is covered with concentric rings. The floating colors are then carefully manipulated either by blowing on them directly or through a straw, fanning the colors, or carefully using a human hair to stir the colors.
In the 19th century, the
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
-based
Japanese master Tokutaro Yagi developed an alternative method that employed a split piece of
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
to gently stir the colors, resulting in concentric spiral designs. A sheet of ''
washi'' paper is then carefully laid onto the water surface to capture the floating design. The paper, which is often made of (
paper mulberry), must be
unsized and strong enough to withstand being immersed in water without tearing.
Another method of marbling more familiar to Europeans and Americans is made on the surface of a viscous mucilage, known as ''size'' or ''sizing'' in English. While this method is often referred to as "
Turkish marbling" in English and called in modern
Turkish, ethnic
Turkic peoples
Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
were not the only practitioners of the art, as
Persian,
Tajiks, and people of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n origin also made these papers. The use of the term ''Turkish'' by
Europeans is most likely due to both the fact that many first encountered the art in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, as well as essentialist references to all
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s as
Turks, much as Europeans were referred to as in
Turkish and
Persian, which literally means
Frankish.
Historic forms of marbling used both organic and inorganic pigments mixed with water for colors, and sizes were traditionally made from
gum tragacanth (''
Astragalus'' spp.), gum karaya,
guar gum
Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans that has thickening and stabilizing properties useful in food, feed, and industrial applications. The guar seeds are mechanically dehusked, hydrated, mi ...
,
fenugreek (''Trigonella foenum-graecum''),
fleabane,
linseed, and
psyllium. Since the late 19th century, a boiled extract of the
carrageenan-rich alga known as Irish moss (''
Chondrus crispus''), has been employed for sizing. Today, many marblers use powdered carrageenan extracted from various seaweeds. Another plant-derived
mucilage is made from
sodium alginate. In recent years, a synthetic size made from
hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, a common ingredient in instant
wallpaper paste, is often used as a size for floating
acrylic and
oil paint
Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof.
The earliest surviving ...
s.
In the size-based method, colors made from
pigments are mixed with a
surfactant
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a Blend word, blend of "surface-active agent",
coined in ...
such as
ox gall. Sometimes, oil or
turpentine
Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...
may be added to a color, to achieve special effects. The colors are then spattered or dropped onto the size, one color after another until there is a dense pattern of several colors. Straw from the
broom corn was used to make a kind of whisk for sprinkling the paint, or
horsehair to create a kind of drop-brush. Each successive layer of
pigment
A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...
spreads slightly less than the last, and the colors may require additional
surfactant
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a Blend word, blend of "surface-active agent",
coined in ...
to float and uniformly expand. Once the colors are laid down, various tools and implements such as rakes, combs, and styluses are often used in a series of movements to create more intricate designs.
Cobb paper or cloth is often
mordanted beforehand with
aluminium sulfate
Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the chemical formula, formula . It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a Coagulation (water treatment), coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking ...
(alum) and gently laid onto the floating colors (although methods such as Turkish and Japanese do not require mordanting). The colors are thereby transferred and adhered to the surface of the paper or material. The paper or material is then carefully lifted off the size and hung up to dry. Some marblers gently drag the paper over a rod to draw off the excess size. If necessary, excess bleeding colors and sizing can be rinsed off, and then the paper or fabric is allowed to dry. After the print is made, any color residues remaining on the size are carefully skimmed off of the surface, in order to clear it before starting a new pattern.
Contemporary marblers employ a variety of modern materials, some in place of or in combination with the more traditional ones. A wide variety of colors are used today in place of the historic pigment colors. Plastic broom straw can be used instead of broom corn, as well as bamboo sticks, plastic
pipettes, and eye droppers to drop the colors on the surface of the size.
Ox gall is still commonly used as a
surfactant
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a Blend word, blend of "surface-active agent",
coined in ...
for
watercolors and
gouache, but synthetic
surfactants are used in conjunction with
acrylic,
PVA, and
oil-based paints.
History in East Asia

An intriguing reference which some think may be a form of marbling is found in a compilation completed in 986 CE entitled ''Four Treasures of the Scholar's Study'' (; ) or edited by the 10th century
scholar-official
The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class.
Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...
(958–996 CE). This compilation contains information on inkstick,
inkstone,
ink brush, and paper in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, which are collectively called the
four treasures of the study. The text mentions a kind of decorative paper called () meaning 'drifting-sand' or 'flowing-sand notepaper' that was made in what is now the region of
Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
(Su 4: 7a–8a).
This paper was made by dragging a piece of paper through a fermented flour paste mixed with various colors, creating a free and irregular design. A second type was made with a paste prepared from honey locust pods, mixed with
croton oil, and thinned with water. Presumably, both black and colored inks were employed.
Ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...
, possibly in the form of an oil or extract, was used to disperse the colors, or “scatter” them, according to the interpretation given by
T.H. Tsien. The colors were said to gather together when a hair-brush was beaten over the design, as
dandruff particles was applied to the design by beating a hairbrush over top. The finished designs, which were thought to resemble human figures, clouds, or flying birds, were then transferred to the surface of a sheet of paper. An example of paper decorated with floating ink has never been found in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Whether or not the above methods employed floating colors remains to be determined (Tsien 94–5).
Su Yijian was an Imperial
scholar-official
The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class.
Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...
and served as the chief of the
Hanlin Academy from about 985–993 CE. He compiled the work from a wide variety of earlier sources and was familiar with the subject, given his profession. Yet it is important to note that it is uncertain how personally acquainted he was with the various methods for making decorative papers that he compiled. He most likely reported information given to him, without having a full understanding of the methods used. His original sources may have predated him by several centuries. Not only is it necessary to identify the original source to attribute a firm date for the information, but also the account remains uncorroborated due to a lack of any surviving physical evidence of marbling in Chinese manuscripts.

In contrast, , which means 'floating ink' in Japanese, appears to be the earliest form of marbling during the 12th-century
Sanjuurokuninshuu , located in Nishihonganji , Kyoto. Author Einen Miura states that the oldest reference to papers are in the
''waka'' poems of Shigeharu, (825–880 CE), a son of the famed Heian-era poet
Narihira (Muira 14) in the
Kokin Wakashū, but the verse has not been identified and even if found, it may be spurious. Various claims have been made regarding the origins of . Some think that may have derived from an early form of
ink divination (encromancy). Another theory is that the process may have derived from a form of popular entertainment at the time, in which a freshly painted Sumi painting was immersed into water, and the ink slowly dispersed from the paper and rose to the surface, forming curious designs, but no physical evidence supporting these allegations has ever been identified.
According to legend, Jizemon Hiroba is credited as the inventor of . It is said that he felt divinely inspired to make paper after he offered spiritual devotions at the
Kasuga Shrine in
Nara Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...
. He then wandered the country looking for the best water with which to make his papers. He arrived in
Echizen,
Fukui Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...
where he found the water especially conducive to making . He settled there, and his family carried on with the tradition to this day. The Hiroba family claims to have made this form of marbled paper since 1151 CE for 55 generations (Narita, 14).
History in the Islamic world

The method of floating colors on the surface of
mucilaginous sizing is thought to have emerged in the regions of
Greater Iran and
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
by the late 15th century. It may have first appeared during the end of the
Timurid dynasty
The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (), was the ruling dynasty of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507). It was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of I ...
, whose final capital was in the city of
Herat
Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...
, located in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
today. Other sources suggest it emerged during the subsequent
Shaybanid dynasty, in the cities of
Samarqand or
Bukhara
Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
, in what is now modern
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
. Whether or not this method was somehow related to earlier
Chinese or
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese methods mentioned above has never been concretely proven.
Several
Persian historical accounts refer to () , often shortened to ().
Annemarie Schimmel translated this term as 'clouded paper' in
English. While
Sami Frashëri claimed in his
Kamus-ı Türki, that the term was "more properly derived from the
Chagatai word " (); however, he did not reference any source to support this assertion. In contrast, most historical
Persian,
Turkish, and
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
texts refer to the paper as alone. Today in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, the art is commonly known as , a
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
of the term first documented in the 19th century. In
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, many now employ a variant term, (), meaning 'cloud and wind' for a modern method made with oil colors.
The art first emerged and evolved during the long 16th century in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
then spread to the
Ottoman Turkey, as well as
Mughal and the
Deccan Sultanates in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Within these regions, various methods emerged in which colors were made to float on the surface of a bath of viscous liquid mucilage or ''
size
Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or volume. Length can be generalized ...
'', made from various plants including
fenugreek seed,
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...
,
gum tragacanth (''
astragalus'') and ''
salep'' (the roots of
Orchis mascula), among others.
A pair of leaves purported to be the earliest examples of this paper, preserved in the Kronos collection, bears rudimentary droplet-motifs. One of the sheets bears an accession notation on the reverse stating "These abris are rare" () and adds that it was "among the gifts from Iran" to the royal library of
Ghiyath Shah, the ruler of the
Malwa Sultanate, dated
Hijri year 1
Dhu al-Hijjah 901/11 August 1496 of the
Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...
.
Approximately a century later, a technically advanced approach using finely prepared mineral and organic pigments and combs to manipulate the floating colors resulted in comparatively elaborate, intricate, and mesmerizing overall designs. Both literary and physical evidence suggests that before 1600, a
Safavid-era émigré to India named Muḥammad Ṭāhir developed many of these innovations. Later that century, Indian marblers combined the technique with
stencil
Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object. The holes allow the pigment to reach only some parts of the surface creatin ...
and
resist masking methods to create
miniature paintings, attributed to the
Deccan sultanates and especially the city of
Bijapur in particular, during the
Adil Shahi dynasty in the 17th century.
The earliest examples of Ottoman marbled paper may be the margins attached to a cut paper découpage manuscript of the () by the poet Arifi (popularly known as the
Ball and Polo-stick' completed by Mehmed bin Gazanfer in 1539–40. Recipes ascribed to one early master by the name of Shebek, appear posthumously in the earliest, anonymously compiled Ottoman
miscellany on the art known as the (, 'An Arrangement of a Treatise on Ebrî'), dated on the basis of internal evidence to after 1615. Many in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
attribute another famous 18th-century master
Hatip Mehmed Efendi (died 1773) with developing motif and perhaps early floral designs and refer to them as "Hatip" designs, although similar evidence also survives from Iran and India, which await further study.
The current Turkish tradition of dates to the mid-19th century, with a series of masters associated with a branch of the
Naqshbandi Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
order based at what is known as the (Lodge of the Uzbeks), located in
Sultantepe, near
Üsküdar
Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...
. The founder of this line, Sadık Effendi (died 1846) allegedly first learned the art in
Bukhara
Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
and brought it to
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, then taught it to his sons Edhem and Salıh. Based upon this later practice, many Turkish marblers assert that
Sufis practiced the art for centuries; however, little evidence supports this claim. Sadık's son Edhem Effendi (died 1904) manufactured papers as a kind of
cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
for the , to supply Istanbul's burgeoning printing industry with the paper, purportedly tied into bundles and sold by weight. Many of his papers feature designs made with turpentine, analogous to what English-speaking marblers refer to as the ''stormont'' pattern.
The premier student of Edhem Efendi,
Necmeddin Okyay (1885–1976), first taught the art at the
Fine Arts Academy in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. He famously innovated elaborate floral designs, in addition to '','' a method of writing traditional calligraphy using a
gum arabic resist masking applied before marbling the sheet. Okyay's premier student, Mustafa Düzgünman (1920–1990), taught many contemporary marblers in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
today. He codified the traditional repertoire of patterns, to which he only added a floral daisy design, after the manner of his teacher.
History in Europe
In the 17th century,
European travelers to the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
collected examples of these papers and bound them into
album amicorum
The ''album amicorum'' ('album of friends', friendship book) was an early form of the poetry book, the autograph book and the modern friendship book. It emerged during the reformation, Reformation period, during which it was popular to collect ...
, which literally means "album of friends" in Latin, and is a forerunner of the modern
autograph album. Eventually, the technique for making the papers reached Europe, where they became a popular covering material not only for book covers and end-papers, but also for lining chests, drawers, and bookshelves. By the late 17th century, Europeans also started to marbled the edges of books.
The methods of marbling attracted the curiosity of intellectuals, philosophers, and scientists. Gerhard ter Brugghen published the earliest European technical account, written in Dutch, in his in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
in 1616, while the first German account was written by
Daniel Schwenter, published posthumously in his in 1671 (Benson, "Curious Colors", 284; Wolfe, 16).
Athanasius Kircher published a Latin account in ''
Ars Magna Lucis et Umbræ'' in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 1646, widely disseminated knowledge of the art throughout Europe.
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...
and
Jean le Rond d'Alembert published a thorough overview of the art with illustrations of marblers at work together with images of the tools of the trade in their ''
Encyclopédie
, better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...
''.
Elena Laura Jakobi is responsible for a
conceptual history study of the terms and variants used to describe marbled paper between 1550 and 1800. The genesis, development, and differentiation of the terms are documented in German, Dutch, French, Italian, and Latin using 109 written sources.
In 1695, the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
employed partially marbled papers
banknote
A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...
s for several weeks until it discovered that
William Chaloner had successfully forged similar notes (Benson, "Curious Colors", 289–294). Nevertheless, the Bank continued to issued partially marbled
cheque
A cheque (or check in American English) is a document that orders a bank, building society, or credit union, to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing ...
s until the 1810s (Benson, "Curious Colors", 301–302). In 1731, English marbler Samuel Pope obtained a
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
for security marbling, claiming that he invented the process, then sued his competitors for
infringement; however, those he accused exposed him for
patent fraud (Benson, "Curious Colors", 294–301).
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
obtained English marbled security papers employed for printing
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...
$20 banknote in 1775, as well as
promissory note
A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...
s to support the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
,
threepence notes issued during the
Copper Panic of 1789, as well as his own personal
cheque
A cheque (or check in American English) is a document that orders a bank, building society, or credit union, to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing ...
s (Benson, "Curious Colors", 302–307).
Nineteenth century
After
English marbler
Charles Woolnough published his ''The Art of Marbling'' (1853), the art production increased in the 19th century. In it, he describes how he adapted a method of marbling onto book cloth, which he exhibited at the
Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. (Wolfe, 79) Josef Halfer, a bookbinder of German origin, who lived in
Budakeszi,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
conducted extensive experiments and devised further innovations, chiefly by adapting ''
Chondrus crispus'' for sizing, which superseded Woolnough's methods in Europe and the US.
File:Art of Bookbinding p108 School of Arts cut.png, Marbling tray and tools from ''School of Arts'' (1750)
File:Encyclopedie volume 4-275.png, Marblers at work, from ''l'Encyclopedie'' of Diderot and d'Alembert
File:Encyclopedie volume 4-276.png, An edge marbler and paper finisher with related equipment, from ''l'Encyclopedie''
In the 21st century

Marblers still make marbled paper and fabric, even applying the technique to three-dimensional surfaces. Aside from continued traditional applications, artists now explore using the method as a kind of painting technique, and as an element in
collage
Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
. In recent decades, international symposia and museum exhibitions featured the art. A marbling journal ''Ink & Gall'' sponsored the first International Marblers' Gathering held in
Santa Fe,
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
in 1989. Active international groups can be found on social media networks such as Facebook and the International Marbling Network.
Another adaptation called
body marbling has emerged at public events and festivals, applied with non-toxic, water-based neon or ultraviolet reactive paints.
Examples
File:Marbled endpaper, between 1720 and 1770, from Quintilian ed. Burmann, Leiden 1720.jpg, Marbled endpaper from a book bound in the Netherlands or Germany between 1720 and 1770
File:PaperMarbling005France1735.jpg, Marbled endpaper from a book bound in France around 1735
File:PaperMarbling001England1830.jpg, Paper marbling from a book bound in England around 1830
File:Galileo-6.jpg, Paper marbling in a 1718 copy of '' Opere di Galileo Galilei''
File:PaperMarbling003France1880.jpg, Marbled endpaper from a book bound in France around 1880
File:PaperMarbling003France1880Detail.jpg, Marbled endpaper from a book bound in France around 1880 (detail)
File:Combed Marbled Design (London, 1847).jpg, A combed marbled pattern from the front flyleaf of a binding of ''The Playmate: A Pleasant Companion for Spare Hours'' by Joseph Cundall, Printed by Barclay, 1847.
File:Combed marbled paper.jpg, Combed marbled paper, from the front flyleaf of a binding of ''Oriental Fragments'' by Maria Hack, printed in London for Harvey and Dartman, 1828.
File:1902MarbledTheLifeOfTheBeeByMaeterlinck.jpg, 1912 edition of Dodd, Mead and Company's The Life of the Bee by Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...
File:1902MarbledTheLifeOfTheBeeByMaeterlinckDetail.jpg, Frontispiece detail of The Life of the Bee
See also
Richard J. Wolfe Collection of Paper Marbling and Allied Book Arts.University of Chicago Library
See also
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Marbleizing
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Water transfer printing
References
Bibliography
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External links
Decorated and Decorative Paper Collectionfrom the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
libraries
:A database that showcases a selection of decorated and decorative papers, with dozens of pattern examples, two essays, and a bibliography
Marbled paper (archived 2019)by Joel Silver, from Nov./Dec. 2005 issue of ''Fine Books'' magazine
Art of the Marbler 1970 film by Bedfordshire Record Office of Cockerell marbling
Ebru Art A short video from the
American Islamic College that shows artist Garip Ay perform the art of Turkish Ebru
{{Authority control
Paper
Paper art
Handicrafts