Traditions & everyday life
Ebru
Paper marbling: colours floated on water and lifted onto paper.
The Turkish name
Ebru
Recording on its way.
The story
In ebru, pigments mixed with ox gall are dropped onto a tray of thickened water, drawn into flowers and waves with a fine stylus, and captured by laying a sheet of paper on the surface. No two sheets are alike.
Ottoman calligraphers used ebru for book covers and borders. Today it is taught in workshops across the country, and UNESCO listed it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014.
At a glance
- Materials
- Pigment, ox gall, thickened water, paper
- UNESCO
- Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2014
Read more
This page was written from these sources.
- Ebru, Turkish art of marbling ↗UNESCO · Checked 2026-09-22