Turkey: Decoupage representation of a cockerel and a tethered hawk, 17th century. The mirror writing...

Decoupage (or découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on. Commonly an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the 'stuck on' appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional technique used 30-40 layers of varnish which were then sanded to a polished finish. The Ottoman court's interest in decoupage work goes back to the second half of the 16th century. This special technique was mastered right into the 19th century by a few specialized artists, and in contrast to miniature painting, the output was fairly small.