Ebru, the Art of Marbling

Ebru works because pigment ground with ox gall will float rather than sink on water thickened with gum tragacanth. The marbler flicks colour onto the bath with a horsehair brush, then drags a stylus or a fine comb through it, and the drops stretch into patterns that have names and rules: battal, the plain spattered ground; the combed sal; hatip with its concentric figures; and the flowers, tulips and carnations built one petal at a time. A sheet of paper laid on the surface takes the whole image in one press, and the bath is clear again. It was book work first, endpapers and backgrounds for calligraphy, long before it became a picture in its own right.

What you actually see

• The bath - a shallow tray of water thickened until pigment sits on the surface.
• Battal and sal - the spattered ground and the combed pattern drawn out of it.
• Floral ebru - tulips and carnations built petal by petal with a stylus.
• The lift - paper laid down and peeled off with the design transferred whole.

When to go

Workshops run year-round and take two to three hours, usually with two or three sheets to take home. Book ahead, because classes are small by necessity: one bath serves one person. Winter is a sensible time to spend a half-day indoors. Sheets need an hour or two flat to dry before you can carry them anywhere.

Honest expectations

Your first sheets will be muddy, and the floral work that looks effortless takes years to learn. Many bazaar stalls sell printed reproductions as hand-marbled paper. Classes taught in English are limited and cost noticeably more. The materials are fussy about temperature and humidity, so a bath that misbehaves can eat most of a session.

Nearby

The Suleymaniye quarter, and the calligraphy and book shops around Beyazit and the Grand Bazaar.