Marbling: The Art of Floating Ink

Open a book and you may discover marbled endpapers, rhythmic fields of colour and pattern that transform the inside cover into a space of beauty and wonder. The technique used to create these artworks is called marbling, named for its resemblance to polished marble, with flowing veins, ripples, and swirling forms that are impossible to repeat.

Marbling: The Art of Floating Ink explores this art form, created by suspending ink or paint on the surface of a prepared liquid and transferring the pattern onto paper. By combing, dragging, or swirling the floating colours, artists produce distinctive patterns ranging from stone-like veins and feathered designs to intricate waves and flourishes.

The practice of marbling has a long history. Early forms called suminagashi (or ‘floating ink’) emerged in Japan more than a thousand years ago, where artists suspended ink on water to create soft, drifting patterns. Centuries later, marbling flourished in Turkey through ebru, where specially prepared liquids allowed heavier pigments to float, enabling even greater complexity and control.

Drawn from UNSW Library’s Special Collections, Marbling: The Art of Floating Ink showcases this tradition through a selection of 18th- and 19th-century hand-marbled papers, artist tools, illustrations, marble samples, and video documentation. Part craft, part science, and part chance, every sheet of marbled paper records a fleeting moment on the surface of the water.

To learn more about historic decorative techniques and pattern design, see Printed Patterns (Main Library, level 3), a companion display to Marbling: The Art of Floating Ink.

Top image: Marbled endpaper in The English Constitution (1863). By Edward Fischel. Published in London by Bosworth and Harrison. UNSW Library Special Collections. V 342.42/10. 

Accessibility: UNSW Main Library is wheelchair accessible, with all displays and explanatory texts positioned for comfortable viewing from a seated position. Tactile and alternative formats will be available, including a braille exhibition guide, an audio-described guide, and large-text booklets. The exhibition features large-scale video projections of visual patterns; one video includes background music and an English narration with full closed captions.