Dyeing is one of the oldest techniques of decorating paper, and calligraphers often commented on its importance, as Qadi Ahmad did circa 1606: For writing slightly tinted paper is suitable, That it should be restful to the eye. The red, green and white colors Strike the eye, like looking at the sun. Darkish colors suit colored writing.1 Dyeing, sizing, and burnishing were the realm of the papermaker, the paper dealer, or a specialized craftsman. However they were also part of the training of calligraphers. Many historical manuals of paper refinement are treatises for calligraphers. There is much variety in the choice and preparation of dyestuffs, drying methods (in the shade or the sun), and sizing agents used. For this paper sample I attempted to follow an eleventh-century recipe by ibn Badis: Description of beautifying the paper that has been tested. In a copper pot, ten ratls of sweet water and good clean starch are cooked on the fire. It is boiled more than once until the water is diminished by two fingers or more. Then there is added a little saffron in a quantity to strengthen its colour or purity. The solution is poured into a wide basin. The sheet is immersed in it lightly with care so that it is not torn. It is spread with a thin flax string in the shade. One must be careful that it is not reached by the sun else it will be spoiled. It is examined every hour with a turning over so that it will not stick. When dry, it is polished with glass burnishers on a board.2 I produced this paper sample at the UICB Research and Production Paper Facility on a flexible, Islamic-style grass mould. I prepared the pulp from high-quality textile hemp that I cooked in a 0.4-percent calcium hydroxide solution for 3 hours and then washed and beat in a Reina beater. After forming and pressing the paper, I brushed the sheets onto wooden boards to dry. As in the recipe of ibn Badis, I sized and dyed the paper in one step. This is possible with saffron because it has excellent water solubility and does not require a mordant. To make the dye-size solution, I boiled 1 cup of wheat starch and 0.5 gram of saffron thread in 3 liters of water for 30 minutes. After cooling the solution I applied it to the surface of the paper with a brush. After the paper dried, I burnished each sheet with a bonefolder on a wooden board for approximately 15 minutes, a process requiring great endurance, as Clapperton observes, in India: The polisher and trimmer, or cutterman, were the highest paid, the former because of the arduousness of the work, the latter on account of the extreme accuracy required—any carelessness would spoil the sheet.3 In the future I plan to continue experimenting with fiber materials, dyes, and sizing agents to faithfully reproduce historic Islamic papers. The author wishes to thank Timothy Barrett for his support and encouragement during the production of this paper sample. __________ notes 1. Qadi Ahmad, On Ruling, Gilding, Diluting Lapis Lazuli, Preparing Various Colors, Ink and Other Accessories of a Kitab-khana in Calligraphers and Painters: A Treatise by Qadi Ahmad, Son of Mir-Munshi (circa A.H. 1015/A.D. 1606), translated from the Persian by V. Minorsky, Freer Gallery of Art Occasional Papers vol. 3, no. 2 ( June 1959): 113. 2. Translation of the manuscript by al-Mu'izz ibn Badis (1025) by Martin Levy in "Mediaeval Arabic Bookmaking and its Relation to Early Chemistry and Pharmacology," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, n.s., vol. 52, pt. 4 (September 1962), 40. 3. Robert Henderson Clapperton, Paper: An Historical Account of its Making by Hand from the Earliest Times Down to the Present Day (Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1934), 57.
