Marbling is an endangered craft in the UK. ‘Endangered’ is a dramatic word, something you would apply to the last animal of a species. But compared to its heyday in the 19th century when it was industrialised, professional marbling is now rare in the UK.
Marbling is the art of floating ink or paint onto water – it can be dropped, swirled or blown. Then a sheet of paper is applied to pick up the pattern (Heritage Crafts).
It was first used in China and Japan in the 1100s, travelled through India and Turkey in the 1400s and by the 1500s it was seen as art. Typically used in a ‘friendship book’ or album amicorum; collections of art stored in a portfolio and given as gifts (Whitehorse Wares).
Francis Bacon describes the art of marbling in 1627 in his Sylva Sylvarum, now stored in the V&A museum. The V&A has some fascinating examples of marbling including the album amicorum of Wolfgang Leutkauff with samples collected in Turkey. This was before it became popular in Britain in the late 18th century (V&A).
In the 19th century Charles Woolnough wrote ‘The Art of Marbling’ and ‘The progress of the marbling art from technical scientific principles’ by Josef Halfer was published in 1893 which detailed marbling the edges of books (Heritage Crafts).
Traditional book printing and bookbinding has fallen away with the rise in digital printing, overseas imports and rising costs of materials, e.g. Carragheen.
Carragheen moss is a type of seaweed used as a thickening agent in marbling called ‘size’. It helps to stabilise the paint so that it can be manipulated before the paper is applied. Carragheen has seen an increase in price due to new uses for the seaweed (cosmetics, etc) and rising sea temperatures and adverse weather affecting availability which has hit record lows.
Today Heritage Crafts estimates there are under twenty professionals earning their main income from marbling. A further ten or so do marbling part time. One of these is Blue Patch member Rocworx who has been marbling on leather, paper and textiles for over 30 years.
Rachel teaches marbling in workshops at her studio and at events across the UK. She will be at the Craft Festival in Wales from 5-7 September where she will demonstrate Suminagashi ink marbling and at which participants can make a stab-bound stitched Japanese book.
Rachel makes many products out of leather (she trained as a leatherworker). These can be purchased on her website or ordered on commission. She also sells kits for marbling and is due to launch a range of marbled papers and marbled fabrics soon. These will include both colourful European marbling and Suminagashi marbling in more muted tones.
Although marbling is currently on the rise due to social media, as with many crafts, it will not survive if it cannot find a commercially viable outlet. Traditional marbling takes time and requires key skills. This creativity is not always appreciated by consumers who can choose to buy cheap imported or digitally produced marbled papers.
If you would like to learn marbling, contact Rachel at www.rocworx.co.uk