MARBLING is a decorative technique using a viscous (low flow) surface to float paint. Surface paint is used to create visual patterns or freeform art designs. The paint is then lifted onto a prepped material (using a mordant, an inorganic oxide). Images here are acrylic paint marbling (above), ORIZOMI (stab stitch covers, below) and SUMINAGASHI, Japanese marbling (tri-fold case, below), which is known as early as the 12th century. Comb pattern marbling appeared in Persia and Turkey as early as the 15th century. Turkish EBRU is a decorative technique often incorporating painting; representations of flowers or birds are created using the surface paint for a framable piece of art. Marbling was predominant in the West by the 17th century, and can be seen on European books from that period.
