Called suminagashi (floating ink) in twelfth-century Japan, ebru (the art of clouds) in fifteenth-century Turkey, and popularized under the reign of Louis XIII in seventeenth-century France, marbleizing, or faux marbling, is once again making waves in design. Today, Florence is considered the mecca of the craft, with its oldest marble paperie, Giulio Giannini Figlio, dating back to 1856, but here at home, the pattern’s wispy effect is popping up at boutiques across the country. No longer reserved for old-school bookbinding, everything from ceramics to lampshades is swathed in the technique, be it combed, pebbled, or à la curve.
See our slideshow above.