Trying to source some antique paper.

Trying to source some antique paper. No luck yet on google. Does anyone have a stockpile of it anywhere or does none exist?

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Im looking for something to do some artwork on. Something that shows age. Size wise I’d take pretty much anything I could find.

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Thanks Paul,

What I am looking for more specifically is some authentic antique paper that shows discoloration with age.

Here’s an image:

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/639573/2/istockphoto_6...

I don’t know if any exists in a stockpile somewhere, or not, but If anyone might have a clue it’s the letterpress community.

I know you can mimic the look with coffe or tea, and I might give that a shot if I can’t find what I am looking for.

The current paper sources have been fairly well described. Beyond that, aging and dying can have rather different consequences.

Not a lot of paper produced after the 1860’s is largely free of wood fibers and still loaded with enough acid or iron compounds to age the way previous cheaper papers did.

The best of the older papers did not age the way your sample did without coming in contact with an external acid source. Dying will achieve the look, but leave an acid reserve leading to further deterioration of the paper.

Reproducing what was ephemera ‘for the ages’ is thus more involved than making it look right for the next 5-10 years.

One nifty solution I found for matching this looks, is creasing the pages, and dying them in tub of strongly brewed tea. You can also use a toothbrush to sprinkle some lemon juice droplets later on.

Shovel- truly antique paper (pre-1850) is virtually impossible to locate through normal sources, but it is out there. It is not inexepnsive, however. What sizes and weights are you looking for? and how many sheets?

As far as “aging” goes….. there is no quick and easy technique that truly reproduces very old paper… even if you start with good hand-made paper. The fibers themselves are different. Nowadays they are chemically cooked and pulped in a Hollander beater, whereas in older times many paper pulps were created by a retting and stamping process. Also, the fiber of choice in Europe prior to 1800 or so was linen, whereas today it is either wood or cotton. The end results are visibly different even to an untrained eye.

Acids may yellow a paper, but they also degrade the fibers rather quickly, thus rendering your work short-lived. For a document of limited value, this might be OK. for a piece of Art, this is totally unacceptable.

Dyes and colorants, such as tea, coffee, or other veggie-based materials are not truly lightfast, and thus will fade over time…. thus giving themselves away as artificial.

I saw this and thought it looked similar to why you’re trying to accomplish: http://michaeldouglasjones.blogspot.com/2010/01/and-still-we-will-be-her...

@ winking cat press - I will take any size I can get my hands on, though, the larger the better. I can’t be picky. I’d like maybe a dozen or so pieces to begin with. Do you have any sources? I am willing to pay.

Thanks for all the valuable knowledge…