Paper and Parchment
Up until the latter half of the 15th Century, books produced in Europe were on animal skin parchment or calf skin vellum; however in Persia books had been produced on paper for centuries by that time.
Both linen and cotton fibers were known in the Middle East in the 16th century. One source notes papers made from linen and silk fibers in use1. Paper was also imported from China2 and from Italy3. A 17th century source indicates that Persian papers were mostly cotton4, to compare with the earlier sources that site linen and silk. As paper was frequently made from discarded clothing rags, it is likely that silk, cotton and linen could have been used to produce paper at the time as all of these fibers are known in textiles of the period.
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While white and cream (natural) colored papers are very common, there are many examples of papers in a rainbow hue of pastels and even some darker colors such as a brilliant blue-green. Recipes for dying paper exist in Persia starting in the 11th century5 and Qadi Ahbad talks of dyers of paper in his treatise of book arts (published circa 16066.) For more on paper dying, see the paper marbling page. |
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| Dying paper in a Freer Sackler minature |
According to multiple sources the paper was burnished before painting7 and sized as well. Bloom mentions two period texts, one from 1184 or 1185 which states the best papers were sized with rice starch and another from a treatise by a calligrapher Sultan-Ali Mashhadi (who died in 1520).
On Size Paste8 |
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| Scribes at work from the same manuscript as above. |
I burnished my paper with an agate burnisher thoroughly to achieve a smooth surface before applying the size.
I made my size from rice starch9 by boiling rice in too much water for a very long time. The liquid poured off was a yellowish milky color.
I applied the size liberally with a wide brush over the entire surface of the page, then turned the page over and sized the back of the page thoroughly as well. I found that the surface tension of the wet paper on the board I set it on helped keep the paper from wrinkling as it dried. Once the page was completely dry I burnished both sides.
This sizing of the paper is also an important step in the technique of gold sprinkling.
1Purinton, page 138
2Bloom, page 70. Chinese papers in particular were admired and seen as superior. Bloom's book features a beautiful blue and gold Chinese paper with Islamic calligraphy on it.
3Bloom, page 56. A paper with an Italian watermark used in a Persian book. It is doubtful that the Italian merchant made any money on the exchange; perhaps they were attempting to break into the market as paper was not as widly used or appreciated in Europe as in the Middle East.
4Porter, page 21
5Bloom, page 88
6Minorsky, page 174 title page for the chapter "On painters, gilders, masters of gold sprinkling and 'decoupe' work, dyers of paper, and on other cognate matters" The following pages list paper dying as a skill for several of the notable artists listed.
7Purinton, page 138, V Hayez abstract, Bloom, many pages but page 69 in particular.
8Bloom, page 69, identical to the translation in Minorsky as well.
9Several sources mention making starch from rice (though they neglect to specify exactly how the rice starch was obtained) including Bloom, page 67.