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surface of the tank and also the combs he will draw across the
water to cause patterns. Every paper applied to the tub must not be considered
marbled. No air must be remain between the liquid and the water. Turkish
marbled paper is distinguished by a velvety surface.
One of the last masters of the marbling art, Mustafa Duzgunman, has been often criticized because of his refusal to teach the art to novices. The technique of marbling is frequently underestimated. Many approach the art as a |
Mustafa Duzgunman. "Laleler". Mustafa Duzgunman. "Tulips". |
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simple past-time as in the old Turkish saying, "Dyes on the water remain/Oh, how
well they entertain." Eager beginners would run to Musatfa Duzgunman the minute
they found themselves a tub. As much as the late master would caution them of
how toilsome (there is no better word to describe it) the art is, he would
frequently would come across those who gave up in two or three months. Because
of his anger at these aborted efforts and since he could never be sure of the
level of newcomers's patience, the master was never in favor of accepting new
students. Before his death, he had passed on his art to only two
craftsmen -- Alparslan Babaoglu and Fuat Basar.
I would like to relate my own experience to describe how the art of marbling is not as easy as it appears and how it requires considerable time and labor. At an elementary school in Etiler at the end of 1988, the Turkish Cultural Services foundation sponsored a four-month course at which Nusret Hepgul served as instructor. Sixty seven students participated in the course and there were even some opened shops dealing exclusively in the production and sale of marbled paper. |
"We have learned everything about the art," they were
saying. Those who liked the art continued with it. some abandoned it.
Six or seven months later, Nusret Hepgul announced that he would be holding an advanced course for his old students at the Caferaga Medrese (theological school) at Sultanahmet. Close to twenty student groups attended the course. At the exhibit held at term-end, while contemplating the many different and beautiful new examples of marbling, it was interesting to hear almost all the students in the course voicing one common wish: they wanted another course. This what they were saying : "After the first course we were boasting that we knew everything there was to know. Only after the second course did we realize how little we really knew. Now we are at the point where we can see what we do not know. Please organize another course for us!" Their wish did not come true but these devotes turned their marbling friendships into the formation of a new group. They came together once a month or at least every two months to show each other |
their marbling. They shared
their techniques and new experiences with each other. The group continues to
work together.
The early practicers of the art of transferring floating dyes onto paper, known as "ebru" or marbling, searched for the divine in their work. This was because every tub does not produce marbling. The colors will not float if the environment or the viscosity of the water is not right. They will blur into each other, dissipate and will not form the desired patterns when transferred to paper. The temperature of the environment , even the rate of humidity is important. It is only when all the necessary conditions are fulfilled that the tub will produce marbling. And every marbling to appear will be unlike the one before or the one to come after. These difficulties and peculiarities of the art of marbling are why the art has been regarded as only possible "through permission of a superior power". For those of this belief, even today, "simple" marbling, produced naturally without the aid of implements is more treasured and valuable. |