Western Paper

Making
Bronwyn Bryan
Rag Paper
Made from natural fabric rags
Supplies
• Water
• Papermill
• Fiber (usually cotton or
linen)
• Mould and Deckle
Rag Paper Process – Sorting and cutting
Rag Paper Process
Retting i.e. fermentation

- Stopped too soon =

coarse, stiff paper
- Done too long =
unusable pulp

Lime was sometimes used

Rag Paper Process
Beating by hand with stampers
Rag Paper Process – Beating with a Hollander
Invented late 1600s
Rag Paper Process

Washing and preparing

the vat
• Bleach discovered
in 1786
• Vatman determines
how much water
and pulp to use
Rag Paper Process
Making Paper
• Vatman – used mould and
deckle
• Coucher – pressed paper
onto felt
• Layer – separated paper
from felt and brings to
press

• Paper pressed
Rag Paper Process
Drying
Rag Paper Process
Sizing – gelatin
Finishing – smoothing
Antique Laid
Paper
Shadow along chain
lines

• Chain lines = thicker

• Wire lines = thin
Modern Laid
Paper
Circa 1800 – improvement
in how moulds were made
 1756 – Wove Moulds invented
Wove Paper
Dandy roll used to add watermark
Wood Pulp Paper
Supplies
• Wood
• Water
• Machinery
Wood Pulp Paper Process – Making Pulp
- Chemical
- Mechanical
- Thermomechanical
- Recycled
Wood Pulp Paper
Process - Making
Paper

- Bleached
- Made into sheets and dried
Paper Process
Wood Pulp
Paper
Process -
Finishing
 Identifying Paper

• Material (pulp and additives)

• Watermarks and countermarks
• Measurement of chain lines
 Conservation
Concerns for All
Paper
- Paper is usually a
composite object

- Consider how
additives will
react/degrade

- Tidelines
Conservation
Concerns For
Handmade Rag Paper
• Usually stands the
test of time
• Vatman’s tears
 Conservation Concerns For Machine
Wood Pulp Paper
Inherent vices:
- Shorter fibers
- Lignin
- Acidity

Foxing

Chemical deterioration:
- Acid-catalyzed
hydrolysis
- Oxidation
Left to right: short-fibred, brittle groundwood pulp paper; new
office paper made of recycled chemical wood pulp fibre; modern
rag fibre paper; and modern kozo fibre paper.
Probable oxidation caused by pollutants
Sources – Articles about History of Western Paper
• Barrett, Timothy. N.D. “Background: European Papermaking Techniques 1300-1800.” Iowa Universities,
accessed March 1st, 2024. http://paper.lib.uiowa.edu/european.php
• Bloom, Jonathan. 1999. “Revolution by the Ream.” ARAMCO World 50 n.3 (May/June)
https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199903/revolution.by.the.ream-a.history.of.paper.htm
• Durgin, Micheal. 2021. “History of Papermaking.” Hand Papermaking, March 16, 2021.
https://www.handpapermaking.org/post/the-history-of-papermaking
• Hunter, Dard. 1978. Papermaking: the history and technique of an ancient craft. New York: Dover
Publications. https://archive.org/details/papermakinghisto0000hunt
• Meir-Husby, Barbara, Jesse Munn, Terry Wallis, and Mary Wootton. 1993. “Quality Materials: Handmade
Paper--Taking a Closer Look.” The American Institute for Conservation.
https://cool.culturalheritage.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v12/bp12-14.html
• Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. N.D. “History of Papermaking Around the World.” Accessed
March 1, 2024.
https://paper.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/2021-04/History%20of%20Papermaking%20Around%20the%20W
orld.pdf
• Vintage Paper. 2019. “J WHATMAN - THE MASTER OF WESTERN PAPERMAKING.” Vintage Paper,
April 7, 2019. https://vintagepaper.co/blogs/news/drying-paper-at-whatmans-springfield-mill
• https://paper.lib.uiowa.edu/epm/ - list of compiled resources
Sources – Articles about Identifying and preserving paper
• Cycleback, David. 2013. “Identifying and Dating Paper.” Looking at Artifacts and Ideas, February 10, 2013.
https://davidcycleback.com/2013/02/10/identifying-and-dating-paper/
• Grossmann, T.G., Schönlieb, CB. & Da Rold, O. 2023. “Extracting chain lines and laid lines from digital images of
medieval paper using spectral total variation decomposition.” Heritage Science 11, 180
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-01013-3
• Guild, Sherry. 2018. ”Caring for Paper Objects.” Canadian Conservation Institute.
https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/preventive-conservation/guidelines-collections/paper-objects.html

• Johnson, C. Richard et al. 2013. “Laid Paper Mold-Mate Identification via Chain Line Pattern (CLiP) Matching of Beta-
Radiographs of Rembrandt’s Etchings.” https://people.ece.cornell.edu/johnson/CLiP-Herstmonceux.pdf

• Norman, Ana. 2023. “The Language of Paper – Deciphering the Secrets of Antique Paper through Its Material Qualities.”
Natural History Art Gallery, September 19, 2023.
https://www.audubonart.com/the-language-of-paper-deciphering-the-secrets-of-antique-paper-through-its-material-qualities/
• Muller, Leonie. 2021. “Understanding Paper: Structures, Watermarks, and a Conservator’s Passion.” Harvard Art Museums,
May 7 2021. https://harvardartmuseums.org/article/understanding-paper-structures-watermarks-and-a-conservator-s-passion
• Obbard, Rachel. 2017. “In Situ Studies of Tidelines on Paper.” Library of Congress, December 4, 2017.
https://www.loc.gov/preservation/outreach/tops/obbard/index.html
Supplementary Sources – Videos
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lltkdyE1OG0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-PmfdV_cZU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-fUES2It6A
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqqK9KnU0kc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXQDsSctP1M

Historic Drawings:
• Joseph-Jérome Lefrançois de Lalande, “Art de faire le papier,” in Description des arts et
métiers, vol. 4 (Paris: Académie royale des sciences, 1761). Translated by Richard MacIntyre
Atkinson as The Art of Papermaking (Kilmurry, Ireland: Ashling Press, 1976).