Combed and blotched, ink thrown in almost Jackson Pollock style joyous abandon then formulated by combs and feathers into psychedelic kaleidoscopes, resembling microscopic visions of bacterial growths or incredible internal landscapes.
These are examples of 'marbled papers' which have been used to decorate the interiors of thousands of books in the Welcome Collection.
The first known form of marbling was the mainly monochrome art of 'suminagashi' in Japan which was practiced as far back as the 12th Century. By the 16th Century it was being created in its more colourful form in Turkey and Persia. In the 17th Century European travellers were bringing home first descriptions of marbling and then the technique itself. Soon it was decorating books, walls and container linings across Europe.
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