After 300 Years a National Juried Exhibition of Handmade Paper Art 1990
All Virtually Paper
Newspaper Origins & History
Paper has a rich, colourful history which has spanned the world'southward geography and its cultures. To trace its evolution offers us insight into humanity'southward relentless imagination, creativity and sometimes folly.
Thank you to the wonderful creation of paper many descriptions of our world take been stored so that we may share and learn from them.
Newspaper has been used for many purposes, non just literature, but for war plans, the creation of the dollar bill, and of grade, to give the ability to people at home of producing their own writing in physical form for hundreds of years. Whether you lot're printing off advice from lovemoney.com or simply writing a dear letter, newspaper is vital to the organisation of modern business and economy, and for entertainment purposes such as magazines and newspapers.
We take prepared the following history of paper, along with a description of how paper is made, what it is used for and some words that are useful to know when talking most paper.
We hope that this is an informative, useful and enjoyable document which inspires you, in the aforementioned manner that we have been, near paper. We welcome your comments and contributions. Delight contact united states of america at someday.
Egypt 3,000 BC
When we think of the origins of paper, our minds might wander back over 5000 years ago to the Nile river valley in Egypt. It was at that place that a marsh grass called Cyperous Papyrus flourished. The Egyptians cutting thin strips from the establish's stalk and softened them in the dirty waters of the Nile. These strips were and so layered in right angles to form a kind of mat. The mat was and so pounded into a thin sheet and left in the sun to dry out. The resulting sheets were ideal for writing on. Since they were also lightweight and portable they became the writing medium of option of Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for record keeping, spiritual texts and works of art.
It is from papyrus that the word paper comes from. Although papyrus sheets were similar to newspaper in terms of role, being laminated sheets they were technically more similar a mat and therefore not the same every bit the papers of today. Similar processes were developed in other lands - in Fundamental America during the second Century AD the Mayans fashioned a similar production for bookmaking. In the Pacific Islands, a paper was made past beating a fine bark over specially shaped logs to make clothes and ritual objects. Yet, none of these sheets would qualify equally true paper today.
The father of truthful paper - T'sai Lun
Paper as we know it today comes from another source - China. Excavations of tombs of the former Han Dynasty (207BC-9AD) have revealed silk fabric bearing the texts of Lao Tzu - the father of Taoism (born in 604BC). In 105 Advertising, Han Emperor Ho-Ti'southward primary eunuch T'sai Lun experimented with a wide variety of materials and refined the process of macerating the fibre of plants until each filament was completely separate.
The private fibres were mixed with water in a large vat. Next, a screen was submerged in the vat and lifted up through the water,communicable the fibers on its surface. When dried, this sparse layer of intertwined fiber became what today we call paper. T'sai Lun's thin, withal flexible and strong paper with its fine, smooth surface was known as T'sai Ko-Shi , pregnant: "Distinguished T'sai's Paper" and he became revered equally the patron saint of papermaking.
A Meg Prayers
It wasn't until the tertiary century that the secret art of papermaking began to pitter-patter out of China, outset to Vietnam and so Tibet. Information technology was introduced in Korea in the quaternary century and spread to Japan in sixth.
There, during the 8th century, the Empress Shotuka undertook a massive project consisting of printing a meg prayers - dharani - on private sheets of paper, with each mounted in its own pagoda. With such a profound inception, information technology is not surprising that the fine fine art of papermaking has continued in Japan to this day, garnering deep appreciation and always increasing sophistication.
The Journey to the West
Papermaking spread slowly throughout Asia to Nepal and subsequently to India. It made its true push westward in 751AD when the Tang Dynasty was at war with the Islamic world. During a boxing on the banks of the Tarus river, Islamic warriors captured a Chinese caravan which happened to include several papermakers. They spirited them away to Samarkand, which soon became a great eye for newspaper production.
Gradually papermakers fabricated their style further due west through the Muslim globe - to Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo. Finally, when the Moors from North Africa invaded Spain and Portugal they brought the engineering science with them and so information technology was that papermaking entered Europe in the twelfth century.
Spreading the Word
In Europe, the use of papyrus had dropped out in the 9th century. The preferred medium for the artists and literati of the fourth dimension was the smooth and lustrous parchment. However, parchment - made from fauna pare - was extremely expensive. In fact, it has been estimated that a single bible hand written on parchment required the skins of 300 sheep. The notion of paper being used as a practical everyday item did not occur until the 15th Century. When Johann Gutenburg perfected movable blazon and printed his famous bible in 1456, he not only spread the word of Christianity, but also sparked a revolution in mass advice. The birth of the modern newspaper and printing industry is normally marked from this date.
The Age of Experimentation
Press engineering science rapidly adult and created an ever increasing demand for paper. The early European papers were made from recycled cotton fiber and linen - and a huge trade apace adult around the trading of old rags. It is said that the black plague entered England from Europe on these old rags. Yet presently this source became insufficient and some curious attempts were made to source new materials - the most macabre of which was the recycling of Egyptian mummies to create wrapping paper! Others experimented with fibres such equally harbinger, cabbage, wasp nests and finally wood, resulted in cheap - and replaceable - materials for paper making. Today, the long soft fibres of softwoods such as bandbox accept get the most suitable source of pulp for mass production.
Mass Production
The demand for paper also created the demand for greater efficiency in production. In the late 18th century the labours of Nicholas Luis Robert resulted in the creation of a machine that could produce a seamless length of paper on a endless wire mesh with squeeze rollers at one end. Perfected and marketed by the Fourdrinier brothers, the new auto made papers before long replaced traditional single sheets made past hand.
In Europe and America, the mass-production of paper became a thriving industry supplying huge volumes of paper for the production of newspapers, books, magazines, paper bags, toilet paper, money and a huge variety of other purposes - including habiliment, chimney'south and even coffins! Today, the increasing volume of paper consumption has go a circuitous environmental matter - and the need for new materials increasingly urgent. While recycling has done some proficient, much paper is however wasted.
Looking Ahead
Owing to the ceaseless imagination of humanity, the words you are reading at this moment are digitally arranged and sent across the earth via a new applied science - signaling a new revolution in mass communication. As these new technologies develop where does the time to come of papermaking lay? At HQ PaperMaker we believe information technology lies in the past, when paper was valued for its innate sensual qualities - an appreciation which deeply respects the materials used, the skill of the artisan and the unique quality of the finished product.
Return to Tradition
In the west, as industrial paper production boomed the art of hand newspaper-making has been driven nearly to extinction - existence practiced simply by a few fine artists and crafts people. However, in small areas throughout Asia, the tradition has lived on.
Incidentally, the traditional Asian paper which is often referred to as "rice paper" is not made from rice fibres at all. More commonly it is made from the versatile mulberry tree - varieties of which are also used for feeding silkworms and in medicine. In contrast to the cold precision and standardisation which industrial production demands, the soft, subtle textures and natural feeling of handmade paper is said to echo the warm heart of the papermaker who makes each sail with devotion.
Papermaking in Thailand
In Thailand there are records of papermaking going dorsum vii hundred years. Traditional uses of newspaper have been for Buddhist texts, temple writings and ritual purposes. It used to be that newspaper was made from the inner bark of the Khoi tree Streblus Asper (L.) Lour. Earlier in the 20th century newspaper product from Khoi began to die out because of a shortage of Khoi trees. It was non until the Japanese occupied the kingdom during the 2d world war that paper making once again flourished in Thailand. For centuries the Japanese had been making newspaper called "Kozo" from the inner bark of the mulberry tree Broussonetia Papyrifera (L.) Vent.
In Thailand the mulberry tree - known as "sa" - grew in abundance and the Japanese demand for maps, banknotes and other documents caused sa paper production to flourish. The mulberry tree is withal abundant in Thailand - growing wild all over the Northern forest and lowland areas - and Thai artisans go on to produce handmade newspaper using the same technique that they have done for centuries. Yet, as international demand for these products is increasing, new speciality papers are being adult which comprise colour dyes, blossom petals and other materials into their blueprint.
HQ Group were among the first people in Thailand to produce sa papers incorporating petals and leaves virtually 10 years agone and our original paper sheet designs using bougainvillea petals and tamarind leaves, for case, are still hugely popular internationally.
The Process
Although there are many subtleties which affect the quality of a newspaper, papermaking in essence is a simple process. Whether using recycled materials or fresh organic matter, the process starts by shredding the cloth into pocket-sized strips and soaking them overnight to loosen the fibres. Next, the fibres are boiled for 2-6 hours, being turned every so oft. When finished, the fibres are washed with fresh water to remove impurities so pocket-sized particles or specks are removed by hand.
The fibres are beaten in a blender or by hand to a flossy lurid. At this stage, dyes tin can exist added to create coloured papers. The pulp is poured into a large tub and the fibres are suspended in the water. The artisan dips a framed screen into the water and with great skill, lifts it to the surface catching the fibres onto the screen. The screens tin can either be left in the sun to dry, or be transferred to boards, pressed, smoothed and so stale.
The Possibilities
Papers made in this tradition are durable, flexible and extremely versatile. They can exist used by anyone for gift-wrapping, writing, drawing and painting. They are also used by craft-makers to produce books and binding, stationery and greeting cards, boxes, motion picture frames and then on. Paper also has many applications in architecture and interior blueprint, such every bit wallpaper, screens, blinds and lampshades. By using techniques such as moulding and papier-mache one can make almost anything - vases, trays, jewellery, furniture and utilitarian products such as cartons and packaging. In fact, newspaper is such a versatile medium, its uses are only limited to the imagination... So Dream On!
Would yous like to learn a few helpful words for talking about paper?
Source: http://www.hqpapermaker.com/paper-history/
0 Response to "After 300 Years a National Juried Exhibition of Handmade Paper Art 1990"
Post a Comment