WATERMARKS

Appearing around the year 1280 in one of Europe’s oldest papermaking capitals, watermarks originated in Fabriano, Italy. The papermakers of this city invented this method of paper identification during the Middle Ages in order to combat counterfeiting. An ancestor of the trademark, this imprint, difficult to detect with the naked eye, was embedded into the thin layers of paper using a brass or copper wire placed on the mold. When in contact with the paper pulp, this filament contributed to the formation of a thinner, more translucent area in the finished sheet. This symbol of authenticity, which made it possible to trace papers back to their original manufactories, spread throughout the medieval period, particularly between the 16th and 18th centuries, when the watermark became a decorative and symbolic element used by a broader public composed of nobles and aristocrats.

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In the 19th and then the 20th century, the progressive industrialization of the papermaking process did not spare the art of watermarking. The invention and innovation of mechanical metal screens made it possible to produce more complex and detailed watermarks. From that point on, the watermark acquired a new bureaucratic and administrative function: the security of documents.