Watermarks

Watermarks are made by wires woven into the papermaker’s mould which is then used to pull wet pulp out of the vat. The wires create a design on the dried paper, the watermark, that is translucent when held to the light. These wire designs range from simple, sometimes primitive patterns to extraordinarily complex and detailed works of art. Les Filigranes, Charles Briquet’s monumental reference work on European watermarks first published in 1907, records over 16,000 different marks from the period 1282 – 1600. These marks often identify the maker, place and time such as this match between the watermark on a letter written by King Ferdinand V of Castile and II of Aragon around 1505 and the Briquet watermark.