marbled paper

Decorative paper usually used as end leaves in printed or blank books. Marbled paper is prepared one sheet at a time, the process beginning with a bath or trough of liquid gum, where colors for the marble pattern are sprinked onto the surface. Turpentine and oil, or gall, is often used as well. Patterns are then made by combing the solution, or by another method that produces the desired design. A sheet of paper is then placed in the bath, the colors in the solution adhere to the paper, and the paper is hung to dry. The process is generally considered to have been invented during the 16th century in the Near East, and soonafter spread to Europe. A variety of individual marbled paper types have been named pertaining to their designs, although recent scholarship has deduced that these names have been arbitrarily used, if not misused, throughout their history.