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{{Short description|Method of aqueous surface design}}
[[File:Marbled Paper.jpeg|thumb|Endpaper from a book published in [[Scotland]] in 1842. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', 7th edition]]
'''Paper marbling''' is a method of [[Aqueous solution|aqueous]] surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth [[marble]] or other kinds of [[stone]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGrath |first=Lucy, (Paper artist) |title=Contemporary paper marbling : design and technique |publisher=Batsford |year=2019 |isbn=978-1849945530 |location=London |pages=142}}</ref> The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a [[Viscosity|viscous]] solution known as [[sizing|size]], and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as [[paper]] 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]] and [[stationery]]. Part of its appeal is that each print is a unique [[monotype]].

== Procedure ==
[[File:Paper Marbling Tank.jpg|thumb|Water-based paints in a tank of carrageenan size being prepared for marbling.]]{{More footnotes needed|section|date=April 2025}}
There are several methods for making marbled [[paper]]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]] chemicals are used to help float the colors. A drop of "negative" color made of plain water with the addition of [[surfactant]] 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]]-based [[Japanese people|Japanese]] {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}} master Tokutaro Yagi developed an alternative method that employed a split piece of [[bamboo]] 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 {{Nihongo3|||kozo}} ([[Paper Mulberry|paper mulberry]]), must be [[Sizing|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 "[[Turkey|Turkish]] marbling" in English and called {{Lang|tr|ebru}} in modern [[Turkish language|Turkish]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1409457791 |title=Flora: celebrating our botanical world |date=2023 |publisher=Te Papa Press |isbn=978-1-9911509-1-2 |editor-last=Te Papa (Museum) |location=Wellington, New Zealand |pages=272 |oclc=on1409457791 |editor-last2=Lehnebach |editor-first2=Carlos}}</ref> [[Turkic peoples]] were not the only practitioners of the art, as [[Persian people|Persian]], [[Tājik people|Tajiks]], and people of [[India]]n origin also made these papers.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}

Historic forms of marbling used both organic and inorganic pigments mixed with water for colors, and sizes were traditionally made from [[gum tragacanth]] (''[[Astragalus (plant)|Astragalus]]'' spp.), gum karaya, [[guar gum]], [[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.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} 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 paint|acrylic]] and [[oil paint]]s.

In the size-based method, colors made from [[pigments]] are mixed with a [[surfactant]] such as [[ox gall]]. Sometimes, oil or [[turpentine]] 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]] spreads slightly less than the last, and the colors may require additional [[surfactant]] 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 [[mordant]]ed beforehand with [[aluminium sulfate]] (alum) and gently laid onto the floating colors (although methods such as Turkish {{Lang|tr|ebru}} and Japanese {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}} 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]] for [[watercolors]] and [[gouache]], but synthetic [[surfactants]] are used in conjunction with [[Acrylic paint|acrylic]], [[Polyvinyl alcohol|PVA]], and [[Oil paint|oil-based]] paints.

== History in East Asia ==
[[File:36poets collection MITSUNE1L.jpg|thumb|right|Two pages of [[waka (poetry)|''waka'']] poems by [[Ōshikōchi Mitsune]] (859?–925?). 20&nbsp;cm height, 32&nbsp;cm wide. Silver, Gold, Color, and ink on {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}} paper. From a copy of the {{Nihongo3|||Sanjurokunin Kashu}} or [[Thirty-six Poetry Immortals|"Thirty-Six Immortal Poets"]] kept in the [[Hongan-ji|Hongan-ji Temple]], [[Kyoto]]. This multi-volume manuscript, which contains the oldest examples of marbled paper known today, was presented to the [[Emperor Shirakawa]] on his sixtieth birthday in 1112 CE (Narita, 14 and Chambers, 13–16).]]

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'' ({{lang|zh|文房四譜}}; {{Lang-zh|p=Wén Fáng Sì Pǔ}}) or edited by the 10th century [[scholar-official]] {{ill|Su Yijian|zh|蘇易簡}} (958–996 CE). This compilation contains information on inkstick, [[inkstone]], [[ink brush]], and paper in [[China]], which are collectively called the [[four treasures of the study]]. The text mentions a kind of decorative paper called {{Lang-zh|p=liúshā jiān|labels=no}} ({{lang|zh|流沙箋}}) meaning 'drifting-sand' or 'flowing-sand notepaper' that was made in what is now the region of [[Sichuan]] (Su 4: 7a–8a).{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}

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]], 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]]. Whether or not the above methods employed floating colors remains to be determined (Tsien 94–5).

Su Yijian was an Imperial [[scholar-official]] 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.

[[File:Senmen-kosyakyou.jpg|thumbnail|An example of {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}} paper used as an element in traditional [[ink wash painting]]. From the National Treasure Fan-shaped album of the Hokekyō Sutra (Lotus Sutra), [[Heian period]] 12th c. CE, currently kept in the [[Shitennō-ji]] Temple in [[Osaka]]]]

In contrast, {{Nihongo3||墨流し|suminagashi}}, which means 'floating ink' in Japanese, appears to be the earliest form of marbling during the 12th-century [[Nishi Honganji Sanju-rokunin Kashu|Sanjuurokuninshuu]] {{Nihongo|2=三十六人集}}, located in Nishihonganji {{Nihongo|2=西本願寺}}, Kyoto.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/suminagashi.htm |title=suminagashi |script-title=ja:墨流し |website=Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System |access-date=30 October 2010}}</ref> Author Einen Miura states that the oldest reference to {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}} papers are in the [[Waka (poetry)|''waka'']] poems of Shigeharu, (825–880 CE), a son of the famed Heian-era poet [[Ariwara no Narihira|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 {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}}. Some think that may have derived from an early form of [[Methods of divination#E|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 {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}}. It is said that he felt divinely inspired to make {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}} paper after he offered spiritual devotions at the [[Kasuga Shrine]] in [[Nara Prefecture]]. He then wandered the country looking for the best water with which to make his papers. He arrived in [[Echizen, Fukui|Echizen]], [[Fukui Prefecture]] where he found the water especially conducive to making {{Nihongo3|||suminagashi}}. 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 ==
[[File:Quran 14.jpg|thumb|right|This calligraphic panel features a verse from the [[Qur'an]] (14:7), and is typical of compositions written upon marbled paper produced after the 16th century in [[Central Asia]], [[Iran]], [[India]], and [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?intldl/ascsbib:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28ascs000259%29%29 |title=Qur'anic verse (14:7) on blue and white marble paper |access-date=30 October 2010}}</ref>]]
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]] by the late 15th century.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} It may have first appeared during the end of the [[Timurid dynasty]], whose final capital was in the city of [[Herat]], located in [[Afghanistan]] today.  Other sources suggest{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} it emerged during the subsequent [[Shaybanid]] dynasty, in the cities of [[Samarqand]] or [[Bukhara]], in what is now modern [[Uzbekistan]].  Whether or not this method was somehow related to earlier [[China|Chinese]] or [[Japan]]ese methods mentioned above has never been concretely proven.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
Several [[Persian language|Persian]] historical accounts refer to ({{Lang|fa|كاغذ ابرى}}) {{Transliteration|fa|kāghaẕ-e abrī}}, often shortened to {{Transliteration|fa|abrī}} ({{Lang|fa|ابرى}}).<ref>{{cite web |script-title=fa:ابری.» دائرة المعارف بزرگ اسلامی»|url=http://cgie.org.ir/shavad.asp?id=130&avaid=742|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531040244/http://cgie.org.ir/shavad.asp?id=130&avaid=742|archive-date=31 May 2009|access-date=15 January 2021|website=Great Islamic Encyclopedia Center|language=fa}}</ref> [[Annemarie Schimmel]] translated this term as 'clouded paper' in [[English language|English]]. While [[Sami Frashëri]] claimed in his [[:tr:Kamus-ı Türki|Kamus-ı Türki]], that the term was "more properly derived from the [[Chagatai language|Chagatai]] word {{Lang|chg|ebre}}" ({{Lang|chg|ابره}}); however, he did not reference any source to support this assertion. In contrast, most historical [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], and [[Urdu]] texts refer to the paper as {{Lang|fa|abrī}} alone.  Today in [[Turkey]], the art is commonly known as {{Lang|tr|ebru}}, a [[cognate]] of the term {{Lang|fa|abrī}} first documented in the 19th century. In [[Iran]], many now employ a variant term, {{Lang|fa|abr-o-bâd}} ({{Lang|fa|ابرو باد}}), meaning 'cloud and wind' for a modern method made with oil colors.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=July 3, 2007|script-title=fa:روش ساخت کاغذ ابری یا ابرو باد |trans-title=How to make cloud paper or eyebrows|url=http://bestart4u.parsiblog.com/558989.htm |access-date=30 October 2010|website=Parsiblog |language=fa}}</ref>

The art first emerged and evolved during the long 16th century in [[Iran|Persia]] and [[Transoxiana]] then spread to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turkey]], as well as [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] and the [[Deccan Sultanates]] in [[India]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Benson|first=Jake|date=2019|title=Curious Colors of Currency: Security Marbling on Financial Instruments During the Long Eighteenth Century|url=http://numismatics.org/publications/ajn/|journal=American Journal of Numismatics|volume=31|pages=277–325; Plates 37–27|isbn=978-0-89722-364-5|language=en|access-date=2022-02-20|archive-date=2022-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220155714/http://numismatics.org/publications/ajn/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Wolfe|first1=Richard J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kY92BMFNFjUC|title=Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns : with Special Reference to the Relationship of Marbling to Bookbinding in Europe and the Western World|last2=Wolfe|first2=Richard J.|date=1990|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-8188-0|language=en}}</ref> Within these regions, various methods emerged in which colors were made to float on the surface of a bath of viscous liquid mucilage or ''[[Sizing|size]]'', made from various plants including [[fenugreek]] seed, [[onion]], [[gum tragacanth]] (''[[Astragalus (plant)|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.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} One of the sheets bears an accession notation on the reverse stating "note: these rare abris ..." ({{Lang|fa|یادداشت این ابریهای نادره ...}}) 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]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oi4nBwAAQBAJ&q=sultans+of+deccan+india|title=Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy|isbn=9780300211108|access-date=16 December 2018|last1=Haidar|first1=Navina Najat|last2=Sardar|first2=Marika|date=13 April 2015|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benson |first=Jake |date=2020 |editor-last=Overton |editor-first=Keelan |title=Iran and the Deccan: Persianate Art, Culture, and Talent in Circulation, 1400–1700 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=337–366 |chapter=Chapter 12: The Qit‘at-i Khushkhatt Album: Authenticity and Provenance  |doi=10.2307/j.ctvz0hb4h.16 |isbn=9780253048943|s2cid=216420140 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvz0hb4h.16}}</ref> Later that century, Indian marblers combined the {{Lang|fa|abri}} technique with [[stencil]] and [[resist]] masking methods to create [[Indian miniature|miniature paintings]], attributed to the [[Deccan sultanates]] and especially the city of [[Bijapur, Karnataka|Bijapur]] in particular, during the [[Adil Shahi]] dynasty in the 17th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Benson |first=Jake |date=2015 |editor1-last=Haidar|editor1-first=Navina Najat|editor2-last=Sardar|editor2-first=Marika|title=Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=157–159 |chapter=The Art of Abri: Marbled Album Leaves, Drawings, and Paintings of the Deccan  |isbn=9780253048943|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oi4nBwAAQBAJ&q=sultans+of+deccan+india}}</ref>

The earliest examples of Ottoman marbled paper may be the margins attached to a cut paper découpage manuscript of the {{Lang|ota-latn|Hâlnâma}} ({{Lang|ota|حالنامه}}) by the poet Arifi (popularly known as the {{Lang|ota-latn|Gû-yi Çevgân}} ['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 {{Lang|ota-latn|Tertîb-i Risâle-'i Ebrî}} ({{Lang|ota|ترتیبِ رسالۀ ابری}}, 'An Arrangement of a Treatise on Ebrî'), dated on the basis of internal evidence to after 1615. Many in [[Turkey]] 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. 

The current Turkish tradition of {{Lang|tr|ebru}} dates to the mid-19th century, with a series of masters associated with a branch of the [[Naqshbandi]] [[Sufi]] order based at what is known as the {{Lang|tr|Özbekler Tekkesi}} (Lodge of the Uzbeks), located in [[Sultantepe, Istanbul|Sultantepe]], near [[Üsküdar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ebrusanati.com/ozhistory.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129234816/http://www.ebrusanati.com/ozhistory.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 November 2007 |title=Art of Ebrû |access-date=30 October 2010 }}</ref> The founder of this line, Sadık Effendi (died 1846) allegedly first learned the art in [[Bukhara]] and brought it to [[Istanbul]], then taught it to his sons Edhem and Salıh.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} 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]] for the {{Lang|tr|tekke}}, to supply Istanbul's burgeoning printing industry with the paper, purportedly tied into bundles and sold by weight.  Many of his papers feature  {{Lang|tr|neftli}} designs made with turpentine, analogous to what English-speaking marblers refer to as the ''stormont'' pattern.

The premier student of Edhem Efendi, [[:tr:Necmeddin Okyay|Necmeddin Okyay]] (1885–1976), first taught the art at the [[Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University|Fine Arts Academy]] in [[Istanbul]]. He famously innovated elaborate floral designs, in addition to {{Lang|tr|yazılı ebru}}'','' 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]] today.  He codified the traditional repertoire of patterns, to which he only added a floral daisy design, after the manner of his teacher.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ebrusanati.com/ebrumasters.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129234735/http://www.ebrusanati.com/ebrumasters.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 November 2007 |title=Ebru Masters |access-date=30 October 2010 }}</ref>

== History in Europe ==

In the 17th century, [[European ethnic groups|European]] travelers to the [[Middle East]] collected examples of these papers and bound them into [[album amicorum]], 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 {{Lang|nl|Verlichtery kunst-boeck}} in [[Amsterdam]] in 1616, while the first German account was written by [[Daniel Schwenter]], published posthumously in his {{Lang|la|Delicæ Physico-Mathematicæ}} in 1671 (Benson, "Curious Colors", 284; Wolfe, 16). [[Athanasius Kircher]] published a Latin account in ''[[Ars Magna Lucis et Umbræ]]'' in [[Rome]] in 1646, widely disseminated knowledge of the art throughout Europe. [[Denis Diderot]] 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]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marbreur de papier|url=http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.21:65.encyclopedie0311.635722|work=Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, etc., eds. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D'Alembert.|publisher=University of Chicago: ARTFL Encyclopédie Project|access-date=24 August 2011|author=Denis Diderot|editor1=Jean le Rond d'Alembert|editor2=Robert Morrissey|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713100716/http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.21:65.encyclopedie0311.635722|archive-date=13 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Diderot|first=Denis|title=Marbreur de papier|url=http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:236.encyclopedie0311.738054|work=Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, etc., eds. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D'Alembert.|publisher=University of Chicago: ARTFL Encyclopédie Project|access-date=24 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701124234/http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:236.encyclopedie0311.738054|archive-date=1 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry=Marbled paper |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project |hdl=2027/spo.did2222.0001.236 |hdl-access=free |title=Marbled paper |date=30 September 2010 }}</ref>

Elena Laura Jakobi is responsible for a [[Conceptual history|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.<ref>Elena Laura Jakobi: ''Wie Wolken, Marmor und Meer. Begriffsgenese, Entwicklung und Differenzierung Marmorpapiere beschreibender Termini (1550-1800).'' Masterarbeit. Universität Wien, Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Masterstudium Kunstgeschichte, Wien 2024. Online [https://utheses.univie.ac.at/detail/70558], p. 90.</ref>

In 1695, the [[Bank of England]] employed partially marbled papers [[banknote]]s for several weeks until it discovered that [[William Chaloner#Bank of England Scams|William Chaloner]] had successfully forged similar notes (Benson, "Curious Colors", 289–294). Nevertheless, the Bank continued to issued partially marbled [[cheque]]s until the 1810s (Benson, "Curious Colors", 301–302). In 1731, English marbler Samuel Pope obtained a [[Letters patent|patent]] for security marbling, claiming that he invented the process, then sued his competitors for [[Patent infringement|infringement]]; however, those he accused exposed him for [[Scams in intellectual property|patent fraud]] (Benson, "Curious Colors", 294–301). [[Benjamin Franklin]] obtained English marbled security papers employed for printing [[Continental Congress]] $20 banknote in 1775, as well as [[promissory note]]s to support the [[American Revolutionary War]], [[Threepence (British coin)|threepence]] notes issued during the [[Copper Panic of 1789]], as well as his own personal [[cheque]]s (Benson, "Curious Colors", 302–307).

== Nineteenth century ==

After [[England|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]] conducted extensive experiments and devised further innovations, chiefly by adapting ''[[Chondrus crispus]]'' for sizing,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.budakeszi-wudigess.hu/geschichte |title=Die Vergangenheit von Budakeszi |access-date=23 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316105949/http://www.budakeszi-wudigess.hu/geschichte |archive-date=16 March 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> which superseded Woolnough's methods in Europe and the US.

<gallery>
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''
</gallery>

== In the 21st century ==
{{further|Body marbling}}

[[File:Body Marbled Hand - 1.jpg|thumb|A [[Body marbling|body marbled]] hand]]
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]].  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|Santa Fe]], [[New Mexico]] in 1989. Active international groups can be found on social media networks such as Facebook and the International Marbling Network.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Another adaptation called [[body marbling]] has emerged at public events and festivals, applied with non-toxic, water-based neon or ultraviolet reactive paints.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Valenti|first1=Lauren|title=The New "Body Marbling" Trend Is Must-See Stuff, People|url=http://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/a22529/body-marbling-trend/|publisher=Marie Claire|date=9 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Scott, Ellen |title=Body Marbling Is the New Festival Trend You're Going to Be Obsessed with |url=http://metro.co.uk/2016/09/09/body-marbling-is-the-new-festival-trend-youre-going-to-be-obsessed-with-6119406/ |work=Metro |date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

== Examples ==
<gallery>
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 ''[[Galileo Galilei|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]]
File:1902MarbledTheLifeOfTheBeeByMaeterlinckDetail.jpg|Frontispiece detail of The Life of the Bee
</gallery>
See also: [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.WOLFESPECIMENS Richard J. Wolfe Collection of Paper Marbling and Allied Book Arts.] University of Chicago Library

==See also==
*[[Marbleizing]]
*[[Water transfer printing]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

=== Bibliography ===
*{{cite book 
|last=Benson 
|first=Jake
|chapter=The Art of Abri: Marbled Album Leaves, Drawings, and Paintings of the Deccan
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oi4nBwAAQBAJ&q=sultans+of+deccan+india   
|date=2015 
|editor1-last=Haidar
|editor1-first=Navina Najat
|editor2-last=Sardar
|editor2-first=Marika
|title=Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy 
|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art 
|pages=157–159
|isbn=9780253048943
}}

*{{Cite journal
|last=Benson
|first=Jake
|date=2019
|title=Curious Colors of Currency: Security Marbling on Financial Instruments During the Long Eighteenth Century
|url=http://numismatics.org/publications/ajn/
|journal=American Journal of Numismatics
|volume=31
|pages=277–325; Plates 37–27
|isbn=978-0-89722-364-5
|access-date=2022-02-20
|archive-date=2022-02-20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220155714/http://numismatics.org/publications/ajn/
|url-status=dead
}}

* {{Cite book 
|last=Benson 
|first=Jake
|chapter=Chapter 12: The Qit‘at-i Khushkhatt Album: Authenticity and Provenance 
|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvz0hb4h.16
|date=2020 
|editor-last=Overton 
|editor-first=Keelan 
|title=Iran and the Deccan: Persianate Art, Culture, and Talent in Circulation, 1400–1700 
|publisher=Indiana University Press 
|pages=337–366   
|doi=10.2307/j.ctvz0hb4h.16
|isbn=9780253048943
|s2cid=216420140
}}

* {{cite book
|title=Suminagashi: The Japanese Art of Marbling
|author=Chambers, Ann
|publisher=Thames & Hudson
|year=1991
|isbn=0-486-24651-5
}}
* {{cite book
|title=How to Marbleize Paper
|author=Grunebaum, Gabriele
|publisher=Dover
|year=2003
|isbn=0-486-24651-5
}}
* {{cite book
|title=The Art of Marbled Paper: Marbled Patterns and How to Make Them
|author=Miura, Einen
|publisher=Kodansha International
|year=1991
|isbn=4-7700-1548-8
}}
* {{cite book
|title=Japanese Paper-making
|author=Narita, Kiyofusa
|publisher=Hokuseido Press
|year=1954
}}
* {{cite book
|title=Painters, Paintings, and Books: An Essay on Indo-Persian Technical Literature, 12–19th Centuries
|author=Porter, Yves
|publisher=Manohar: Centre for Human Sciences
|year=1994
|isbn=81-85425-95-7
}}
* {{cite book
|title=Paper and Printing. Science and Civilization v. 5. Chemistry and chemical technology: pt. 1
|author=Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin
|author-link=Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin
|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]
|year=1985
|isbn=0-521-08690-6
}}
* {{cite book
|title=Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns: With Special Reference to the Relationship of Marbling to Bookbinding in Europe and the Western World
|author=Wolfe, Richard J.
|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]
|year=1990
|isbn=0-8122-8188-8
}}
* {{cite book
|title=Wen Fang Si Pu
|author=Su, Yijian
|publisher=Shi dai wen yi chu ban she
|year=2008
|isbn=978-7-5387-2380-9
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Paper marbling}}
{{commons category multi|Marbled paper|Ebru}}
* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/dpweb/index.html Decorated and Decorative Paper Collection] from the [[University of Washington]] libraries
:A database that showcases a selection of decorated and decorative papers, with dozens of pattern examples, two essays, and a bibliography
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20191231052507/https://www2.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/0306/marble.phtml Marbled paper (archived 2019)] by Joel Silver, from Nov./Dec. 2005 issue of ''Fine Books'' magazine
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyga8VMWXKg Art of the Marbler], 1970 film by Bedfordshire Record Office of Cockerell marbling
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llLlFcq3K3U Ebru Art] {{--}} A short video from the [[American Islamic College]] that shows artist Garip Ay perform the art of Turkish Ebru

{{Decorative arts}}
{{Paper}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Paper]]
[[Category:Paper art]]
[[Category:Handicrafts]]