An absolutely spectacular example of a very peculiar technique. Even after marbling made its way into Europe in the early 17th century, new tools, techniques, and experimentation were required to successfully balance the viscosity of the bath, the weight of the colors, and the pre-treatment of the paper. Perhaps it was more appealing to some block cutters to try and replicate the effect with known tools and techniques… but a paper requiring five impressions, even abstract ones, must have been a serious undertaking, and probably wasn’t worth the trouble in most cases.

Note another example of a blockprinted marble on 23.016 in two highly detailed, corresponding blocks, along with a short discussion on this style in Handbuch Buntpapier, pp. 200–201.