In terms of execution, one of the simplest early techniques for paper decoration is sprinkled paper.
Sprinkled endpapers (18th c.)Vilnius University Library
Sprinkling of one or several colour paints in droplets was an affordable and a quite elementary method to embellish the surface of natural colour paper. It might be that quite often bookbinders decorated books in this technique due to its simplicity and affordability.
Even this uncomplicated way of decorating caught the imagination of decorators. Instead of a label, with the help of a stencil, a certain area on the cover bearing the form of the coat of arms was left unsprinkled for writing down the title of the book.
Telšiai Land Court books (1793-1798)Vilnius University Library
Book covers decorated using sprinkling technique (18th c.)Vilnius University Library
Brownish paper with black paint sprinkled on top can often be found in the collections of the 17th–18th century books. In the German language such paper is called Kiebitzpapier, that is, paper decorated in a peewit egg pattern.
At the same time, a way of decorating leather, called “leather marbling”, became very popular in Europe. Ordinary vegetable-tanned leather of natural colour was sprinkled or otherwise decorated with dark paints.
It might be that the marbled leather effect was being imitated through a cheaper sprinkled paper.
Dotted paper book cover (17th c.)Vilnius University Library
The artist who decorated this book carried out their task in a creative way – instead of sprinkling the paint, they decorated the cover of a small size book with a brush by painting red dots.
Sprinkled book edgesVilnius University Library
Sprinkling is one of the most common techniques for decorating book edges. Decorated by a bookbinder, book edges helped to hide defects and were more appealing to the client's eye.
In 1658 Dirck de Bray, a Flemish painter and an author of one of the earliest written sources on bookbinding in Europe, gave the readers some instructions:
„[…] take a stiff hair brush and rub it in the colour until the colour is in the brush; then you run your finger over the brush so that the colour is splashed onto the fore-edge; above all you must sprinkle evenly and, so that no colour is sprinkled between the leaves, you must place a board with something heavy on it on the book.“
The 19th century distinguished itself by the abundance of the ways of decoration and search for new techniques. At the time, the first examples of industrially produced decorated paper had started to appear.
Agate marbled paper (1913)Vilnius University Library
In the mid-19th century, agate (in reference to agate stone) marbled paper was one of the most widely used verion of industrial sprinkled paper. Sometimes it is confused with a real marbled paper which it strives to imitate, however, by its nature this industrial paper in many respects is closer to the sprinkled paper.
One of the most popular papers, widely used even in the 20th century, was called “marbled Gustav's paper” (German: Gustavmarmorpapier).
Paints mixed with a special thinner would land on the paper in a way that made the fallen and dried droplets have a brighter halo. Owing to its specific pattern, this paper is sometimes called “cacao marbled paper”.
Egg from the birds of Sandpiper family and northern lapwings in the background. From the collection of Vilnius University Museum of Zoology (2021)Vilnius University Library
Tales of Decorated Paper is a five-part story.
<< The first part: A Pacing Woodblock. Block-printed Paper
The third part: A Ripple, Captured. Marbled Paper >>
Original idea and research by Ieva Rusteikaitė. Creators and contributors: Gediminas Auškalnis, Gediminas Bernotas, Kristina Gudavičienė, Nijolė Klingaitė-Dasevičienė, Raimondas Malaiška, Vida Steponavičienė, Marija Šaboršinaitė, Jonė Šulcaitė-Brollo.
For professional consultations and the attention given during the creation of this story we are grateful to our colleagues from the Manuscripts, Graphic Arts, Rare Books and Documental Heritage Preservation divisions of Vilnius University Library – Paulius Bagočiūnas, Monika Baublytė, Virgilija Guogienė, Linas Jablonskis, Valentina Karpova-Čelkienė, Sondra Rankelienė, Aušra Rinkūnaitė, Sigitas Tamulis, and Brigita Zorkienė.
We would like to express our special gratitude to the head of the VU Museum of Zoology, Dr Grita Skujienė, for her inspirational cooperation. The exhibits from the collection of zoologist, ornithologist Count Konstanty Tyzenhauz (1786–1853), kept in Vilnius University Museum of Zoology, conclude the second part of Tales of Decorated Paper.
Tales of Decorated Paper were enriched by three objects from earlier research in VU Library’s collections. The mottled gilt material cover of Filozof indyjski... (Warsaw, 1769) by Robert Dodsley and Mikołaj Rej was presented before in Bibliotheca Curiosa (Vilnius: Vilnius University Press, 2016) compiled by Sondra Rankelienė and Indrė Saudargienė. In addition, the publications from the collection Knygos menas (The Art of Book) compiled by Sondra Rankelienė, Aušra Rinkūnaitė, Guoda Gediminskaitė, Brigita Zorkienė, and Irena Katilienė published in the spring of 2020 – that is, Jacobus Wallius’ Poematum libri novem... (Nuremberg, 1737) and Joseph Penso de la Vega’s Rumbos peligrosos... (Antwerp, 1683) – have also joined the Tales where they – hopefully – revealed their significance. We are also grateful to Sondra Rankelienė for her suggestion of using [Onufry Kopczyński’s] GRAMATYKA DLA SZKOŁ NARODOWYCH NA KLASSĘ I (1780), whose jacket featuring the inventive use of coloured wallpaper we included in the first part of the Tales.
Tales of Decorated Paper were created in Vilnius University library – the oldest and largest academic library in Lithuania. The present-day library preserves over 5 million documents, with the oldest being over 8 centuries old. VU Library aims to spread the wealth of knowledge stored in its troves with the community and society.
References:
Horst, Koert van der, Wolf, Clemens de (eds.). Dirck de Bray: Kort Onderweijs van het Boeckenbinden. A Short Instruction in the Binding of Books. Uithoorn; Atelier de Ganzenweide 2012, p. 76-77.
Krause, Susanne; Rinck Julia. Buntpapier - ein Bestimmungsbuch / Decorated Paper - A Guide Book / Sierpapier - Een gids. Stuttgart: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co. KG, Verlag, 2016.
Veléz Celemín, Antonio. El Marmoleado. De papel de guardas a la obra de arte. Madrid: Ollero y Ramos, 2012.
