Collection of Vietnamese marbled papers
Overview
Samples of marbled paper created in a paper-making village near Hanoi, Vietnam.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1930-1941
Condition Description
In good condition. Careful handling required.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
This collection is shelved offsite. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine retrieval policies and times.
Extent
.08 linear feet (1 box)11 sheets of marbled paper of various sizes. Two sheets have manufacturing stamps, with text in French. One sheet has a date handwritten on the back.
Biographical / Historical
Paper marbling originated as a technique in 10th century Japan. The marbling process involves putting ink into a shallow pan of water, where it floats on the water's surface. Designs are created by gently moving or blowing the ink, and paper is laid across the top to absorb the design. This process creates a unique design every time it is used.
Arrangement
Arranged as received.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Custodial History
Ownership history prior to this acquisition is unknown.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2023MH-14. Purchased from Rodolphe Chamonal with the Rosamund B. Loring Fund. 22 February 2023.
Processing Information
This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation. (Aurora Charlow, 2023)
Cultural context
- Title
- Collection of Vietnamese marbled papers, circa 1930-1941 (MS Typ 1340): Guide
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Date
- 29 March 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou03543
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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