Paper into Parchment

Making Paper into Parchment!

This is the link to the Coursera course which I'm having a go at. https://www.coursera.org/learn/medieval-europe?

This week's project is to simulate parchment, which will be used in later weeks to make a book. 

I am using A3 watercolour paper, which is quite thick. Here I am using the solution of coffee (with a splash of added vinegar to prevent mould) to darken the hair side of the parchment. This would have

been darker than the interior flesh side

Here are both sides of my parchment, when the coffee has dried.  

I cut the paper to resemble the animal's neck and shoulder holes, sometimes seen on the edges of the parchment. Holes could also appear in the skin during the stretching process

                               

There may also have been scars present in the animal's skin. I roughly cut a line in the paper to represent a scar in the skin and then creased and coloured it around the edges with watercolour paint. 

There could also be the mark of hair follicles on the hair side of the parchment. I attempted to replicate these with dots and lines done with coloured pencils. 

I also had a go at sewing up a tear in the parchment. The holes were added for before sewing as this was easier on paper. This may not have been the procedure followed on actual parchment, which would have been more pliable. I used embroidery silk to sew up the tear. 

I also added veins to the parchment by lifting lines of the coffee staining out with water on a fine paintbrush. I also experimented with a white coloured pencil to do these. 

Overall, here is one of my finished sheets of parchment, showing all the features above.

All the features were based on examples of real parchment, which can be viewed digitally.

This example is a mortuary roll (rotuli mortuorum) from the British Library. Where the parchment has been folded over at the join, the difference in colour is clearly visible. It also has fascinating examples of different handwriting.

http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Egerton_MS_2849/1&index=33

A really useful webpage is found here with lots of pictures to illustrate the points. https://library.osu.edu/site/rarebooks/2008/12/01/107/.