Layered Rag Paper and Boiled Wheat Starch Papier-Mâché Caskets in Ottoman Edirnekâri Craft

In the hierarchy of Ottoman luxury crafts, the manipulation of paper occupied an exalted status. Known in court workshop inventories as mukavva (or kâğıt hamuru), the molding of laminated paper into rigid three-dimensional forms was an art form perfected by imperial bookbinders (*mücellit*) and chest-makers (*sandıkkâr*). In the royal workshops of Edirne, mukavva was transformed from a humble binding material into the primary substrate for exquisite courtly caskets.

Rather than shredding paper into a wet slurry as in European paper pulp casting, Ottoman artisans utilized whole or pieced sheets of premium rag paper. This paper was handmade from discarded linen shirts and unbleached cotton sails, whose long, unbroken cellulose fibers imparted incredible tensile strength. By layering these sheets with precision adhesives over sculptured wooden forms, Ottoman craftsmen created hollow vessels that rivaled seasoned timber in structural rigidity while weighing a mere fraction of solid wood.

The integrity of an Edirnekâri papier-mâché casket depends entirely upon the formulation of its adhesive binder. Modern synthetic PVA glues or commercial animal glues produce rubbery or brittle bonds that shrink unpredictably. Ottoman masters relied on a sophisticated dual-component organic adhesive: cooked wheat starch paste (*nişasta tutkalı*) enriched with natural gum tragacanth (*kitre*).

Pure wheat starch was extracted by washing wheat flour dough in clean water, precipitating out the gluten. When boiled with distilled water, the starch granules burst at 68°C to 72°C, creating a translucent, highly cohesive adhesive paste. To this mixture, the artisan added a maceration of dried gum tragacanth ribbon flakes. Sourced from Anatolian wild milkvetch bushes, *kitre* acted as a natural plasticizer, allowing the dried paper plies to flex imperceptibly under ambient humidity shifts without delaminating. Finally, a small dose of potassium alum (*şap*) was incorporated, acting as both an astringent hardener and a permanent biocide against paper-eating insects.

Forming a complex three-dimensional casket—frequently featuring stepped plinths, recessed panels, and domed lids—required sophisticated mold engineering. Craftsmen carved molds from fine-grained fruitwoods such as pear, apple, or slow-growth boxwood. Because wet papier-mâché contracts significantly as water evaporates, a solid rectangular mold would become trapped inside the dried box, making removal impossible without smashing the shell.

To overcome this challenge, master mold-makers developed collapsible multi-piece cores. The central mold was divided diagonally into three interlocking wedge segments held together by a tapered central key pin. After the rag paper layers were laminated and partially dried to leather-hard stiffness, the master carpenter gently tapped out the central key pin. This allowed the flanking side blocks to collapse inward away from the box interior, permitting flawless extraction of the delicate paper shell without stressing a single corner seam.

Once demounted and thoroughly dried over two weeks in well-ventilated drying racks, the raw mukavva box underwent rigorous structural tailoring. The top rim of the casket base and the mating perimeter of the lid were planed razor-flat with small brass block planes. Because raw paper edges are susceptible to fraying from repetitive daily opening, craftsmen reinforced these critical wear margins.

Edges were capped with micro-thin veneers of steamed linden wood, calfskin parchment, or bone strips, adhered with hot rabbit-skin glue. Corner joints were further consolidated with diagonal cross-stitching using silk thread soaked in hide glue before receiving the initial sizing coat. The result was a monolithic, seamless paper casket that felt as solid and resonant as carved hardwood, ready to receive the luminous coats of burnished gesso, gilded illumination, and sandarac varnish.