paper filigree decoration

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The technique of d´ecoupage involved cutting out words from the text with a sharp instrument and then pasting them onto a coloured ground (p. 20). Alternatively, the written text could be cut out from a sheet, and the remaining sheet itself glued down onto a coloured ground to give the cut-out shapes their color (p. 20).

Evidence

"The art of d´ecoupage (‘drawing with scissors’ or paper-cutting) ... developed in the 15th century, partly from the use of leather and paper filigree decoration on the doublures of manuscripts in T¯ım¯urid Iran."

Remarks

The Wellcome Collection preserves several exemplars of this technique, which originated from Tīmūrid-era manuscript decoration practices in Iran. The process required high precision, and practitioners were known as qāt.i‘s (p. 20).