18th century paper watermarks
Paper was a Chinese invention that reached Europe, via the Muslim world, in the twelfth century. By the fifteenth century it was much the most common writing material in Europe, and its production increased rapidly with the development of the printing industry. Paper Online provides a brief history of paper. Almost all white paper used in the British Isles was imported until the early eighteenth century. High quality paper, which was often used for writing in manuscript, also came from further afield. There is a very considerable amount of material about paper online, for which see the links to the right.
Making Watermarks Meaningful: Significant Details in Recording and Identifying Watermarks
The presence of such a watermark can help establish the date and place that an artwork was made, but only if significant features of the watermark are recognized and recorded.
A project of documenting and identifying watermarks for an exhibition catalogue at the National Gallery of Art showed us that there is much to learn about the study and interpretation of watermarks in paper. I would like to share with you some of the significant details to look for in a watermarked sheet, how to try to identify a watermark, and some problems in interpreting information given for published watermarks.
I have included an annotated bibliography of some useful reference books as well as a few articles by some of the foremost current researchers in paper history. The basis of the study of watermarks is that at a given period of time a specific paper mill would have on hand a limited number of papermaking molds, and these molds had a finite useful life. The practice in European mills was to have a pair of molds for each size of paper produced. In the papermaking work rhythm, the vatman immersed one mold in the vat while the coucher, his partner, couched the previously formed sheet off the other mold onto felts.
Each mold generally had attached to it a bent-wire mark serving to indicate the paper's origin, size, or quality. Often additional countermarks were also attached to the mold.
Each of these handmade wire marks varied slightly and produced a distinctive watermark recognizable by slight variations in the mark's shape, size, placement, and points of attachment to the mold surface, as well as by the spacing of the chain lines and laid lines.
So there will be two recognizable "twin" watermarks for each pair of molds. In watermarks of the 18th century much finer wire attaches the mark and sewing dots become almost imperceptible.
In producing common paper sizes, a mill would use that size pair of molds frequently, causing wear and damage to the wire mark and mold. Common-sized paper molds are estimated to last about two years, while a mold for a less common paper, such as very large formats, could last for many years. For example, one German mill about produced its largest art paper format once every two years in quantities of 50 reams.
Accuracy in dating watermarks must be based on matching sheets of paper produced by the very same mold. The watermark to be identified must match exactly a published watermark or other mark for comparison. As well as identical size and shape, both marks must have identical placement relative to the chain lines. For example, two very similar Gothic P watermarks can have distinctly different positions relative to the chain lines, one lies between the chain lines, while the other is sewn onto one chain line.
Another Gothic P mark has a crown ornament, instead of the flower ornament which distinguishes the two previous marks. To be considered identical, the marks must have the identical details or initials if any, identical countermarks, as well as the same recognizable sewing dots and the same laid line frequency number of lines per cm and the same chain line interval cm between lines. Even side by side comparison can deceive in establishing that two marks are from the same mold.
Certain comparison requires superimposing the exact size images or their tracings, to see that they coincide in all significant points. The only permissible variations are those that could result from deterioration of the mold and resultant repairs. One example is a foolscap mark, damaged probably from the action of cleaning the mold surface with a wire brush.
The three balls below the numeral "4" have been pushed over against the chain line and flattened somewhat in the process.
Another mark shows the letter "S" placed to one side of a circle; another symmetrically placed letter has apparently fallen off the mold: If a researcher is fortunate and matches a watermark with an identical published mark, then the date and place of use of the cited paper sheet can be used to infer a time period for the use of the paper mold which made both sheets.
Keep in mind that some misleading citations are possible, from occasional use of a sheet produced years before or transported far from its place of manufacture. The number of distinct watermarks is much greater than the body of published marks. The late Alfred Schulte of the Gutenberg Museum made some discouraging calculations of the number of German watermarks used before He concluded that before there were 25, German watermarks.
Briquet by comparison published only 16, watermarks for much of Europe during this same period- 1 Schulte estimated that there were 1 million European watermarks before Another caution concerns watermarks on larger format art papers.
As mentioned above, a very large mold might be in use twenty years, so that the date of a published mark might fall near the year of the mold's first use or last use. But watermarks on large art papers may frequently not be published at all because some paper historians such as Briquet and Voorn have focussed their studies on manuscripts in archives.
Voorn notes that the watermarks on large-sized papers are generally not represented in Dutch archives. There are several ways that we can attempt to interpret watermarks on art works, even if we cannot locate an absolutely identical published mark. Matching a paper mark to similar published watermarks can be useful in indicating the general area and date of use for a mark. But be aware that general types such as the fleur-de-lis or the IHS monogram were in widespread use across Europe.
Quite different seventeenth-century versions of the IHS watermark occur on an Italian paper used for a Claude print with a central chain line crossing the mark and on prints by Callot on French paper with chain lines crossing the mark at left and right. Some watermark motifs remained popular for a century or more, such as the Arms of Amsterdam in use for years.
Two Dutch examples of the Arms of Amsterdam appear on a seventeenth-century drawing by Van de Velde and on a late nineteenth-century Whistler print. We have found that we can study unpublished watermarks most successfully by assembling a body of related marks, for example, the watermarks occurring in papers used by a single artist such as Schongauer.
Watermarks of profile heads reoccur on Schongauer prints, in our collection and in others, as Max Lehr has included them in an appendix on watermarks in his catalogue raisonne. Even if no watermark is present, other characteristic paper features may become evident such as chain line intervals, laid line frequencies, or channeled texture. As an example, a Claude print on paper with a Paschal Lamb watermark with the letters "A" and "N" has a distinctive channeled effect. While another Claude print lacks a watermark, it clearly shows the same channeled effect and is thus on a closely related paper.
Channeled paper is also found on some Schongauer prints. It is considered characteristic of the Italian Piedmont and Swiss mills, and probably results from the manner in which the chain line wires are attached to wooden slats below the mold surface, as discussed in an article by Theo Gerardy. But even unpublished watermarks can give us information. We can learn when and where similar marks were in use, if our watermark resembles published marks.
And we can document the papers that occur in the prints and drawings by one artist. By comparing the paper and watermarks that we find, we can learn to recognize the papers that reoccur and those that are uncommon or from a posthumous reprinting. Selective Bibliography for the Study of Watermarks 1. Charles Moise Briquet. Les Filigranes. French text. The basic reference for European watermarks before , reproducing 16, watermarks out of a collection of 40, tracings made by Briquet in European archives not including archives in England, Russia, Spain, or Portugual.
The Jubilee reprint adds pages of supplementary materials in English, including indices, corrections, and an excellent essay by Allan Stevenson, "How to use Les Filigranes. The Briquet Album. A Miscellany on Watermarks, Supplementing Dr. Hilversum, The Paper Publications Society, Essays and separate detailed bibliographies are included on paper history in France and Belgium, Switzerland, England, and the rest of Europe, as well as Supplementary Literature to Briquet since Curt F.
The author argues for caution in dating incunabula solely by watermark evidence and reminds the reader that the date of paper manufacture only gives at best the earliest possible date of use, but not necessarily the actual date of use. Watermarks in Paper in Holland, England, France, etc. Amsterdam: Hertzberger, An essay on papermaking in France, England, and Holland precedes illustrations of watermarks.
Voorn feels the dates given for Dutch watermarks are frequently inaccurate because Churchill's research was based on collections of many single sheets of uncertain date. Theo Gerardy. The author explains vergeure cannelee alternating light and dark bands parallel to the laid lines as the result of how the chain wire are attached to the underlying wooden slats of the papermaking mold.
Paris: 1fditions du centre nationale de la recherche scientifique, , pp. This article mentions subjects discussed more fully in Papiergeschichte , a paper history journal no longer published and not widely available.
Comparing watermarks alone is not enough to establish the origin of sheets of paper. It is necessary to consider all the markings left by the structure of the mold surface. Gerardy's book on dating with watermarks presents his general approach: Datieren mit Hilfe von Wasserzeichen , Buckeburg: Verlag Grimme, Gerardy sees shortcomings of Briquet's research in the incompleteness of his published oeuvre representing ca.
Gerardy stresses that only watermarks identical in the strictest sense, e. Watermarks from the identical mold may show some alterations from wear. Gerardy recognizes these "variant identical" marks by considering if they can come from the same mold. Thomas L. Gravell with George Miller. A Catalogue of American Watermarks New York: Garland Publishing Inc. This catalogue reproduces Dylux prints of watermarks and gives historical data on American papermaking mills.
Edward Heawood. Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Hilversum: The Paper Publications Society, An introductory essay accompanies illustrations of watermarks, many found in books. Occasionally illustrations are noted to be free-hand "eye-copies," though probably others are as well. Voorn cautions that the dates of watermarks Heawood found in book end-papers may be misleading. Dard Hunter. Dard Hunter's most widely available book has detailed information on Oriental and Occidental papermaking history and techniques.
A valuable illustrated reference, it includes chapters on the paper mold and watermarks. Jean IrIgoin. The author attempts correlating the dates of unwatermarked papers from the earliest era of European papermaking with chain line intervals and laid line frequencies. He points out that current paper research sees the basis of paper history to lie not in dating the watermark per se, but instead dating a sheet of paper produced by a specific mold.
Max Lehrs. Geschichte and kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlHndischen, and franz8sischen Kupferstichs in XV.
Almost all white paper used in the British Isles was imported until the early eighteenth century. Most paper used in Britain came from France. Until the late 18th century, all molds had the same basic design: a Detail of 17th-century laid paper with foolscap watermark, back-lit.
The following chronology has approximate dates and is meant only as a rough guide: 's — most books have raised bands on spine approx. We guarantee that you will be provided with an essay that is totally free of any mistakes. The high speed of writing is one of 18th century paper watermarks the superpowers our experts have. Watermarks are extremely important for investigating the origins of paper. Existing databases include:.
There are a number of printed catalogues of watermarks.
The presence of such a watermark can help establish the date and place that an artwork was made, but only if significant features of the watermark are recognized and recorded. A project of documenting and identifying watermarks for an exhibition catalogue at the National Gallery of Art showed us that there is much to learn about the study and interpretation of watermarks in paper. I would like to share with you some of the significant details to look for in a watermarked sheet, how to try to identify a watermark, and some problems in interpreting information given for published watermarks.
Dillying and Dallying with Watermarks
June 25, By Erin Blake. Have you ever wished there were a summer camp for bookish grown-ups? A retreat where we can spend a week amongst our own and not worry about being teased for loving libraries or getting hit in the glasses by a dodgeball? Smaller versions now exist in Los Angeles, London , and Lyon. At Rare Book School, book nerds like me spend an intensive week studying a specific aspect of bibliography. It might be the identification of illustration techniques to , or the history of European bookbinding, or teaching the history of the book.
Conservation for Cultural Heritage Collections: Museums, Libraries and Archives: Watermarks
A distinguishing mark or device impressed in the substance of a sheet of paper during manufacture, usually barely noticeable except when the sheet is held against strong light. That they are beautiful, enigmatic, intriguing, fascinating … did I just describe myself? People who know nothing about paper are often filled with wonder when they see these translucent images of long-lost or fantastic objects peering out of centuries-old sheets of paper. Matters are complicated, especially in printed books, by formats, bindings and long-standing conservation practice i. Rare books in prestigious collections have often been washed and ironed before rebinding, with consequent loss of evidence; any format lesser than folio pushes the watermark into the margin or onto the edge of the leaf, where chunks can be cut away; heavy manuscript or print can obscure the forms of the object represented; and the ubiquitous neon light of expensively refurbished reading rooms in libraries leaves paper about as transparent as marble. And librarians can be extraordinarily unhelpful though most are absolutely charming! In what are therefore far from ideal working conditions only genuine expertise can piece together the disiecta membra, give a name to the object and point the inquirer to the relevant page in Briquet or some other manual. But there is an touch of vicarious satisfaction, when others are not even sure that something is there, in being consulted in some library, glancing at the paper stock, and recognising a fragment of a foot as belonging to a Pilgrim or to an Angel. Nothing like watermarks exposes the bitter fragility of observation.
Very interesting material for paper historians, collectors, artists, education and book restoration.
