French fashion from the past

XIX century antique french fashion engraving, Colorful extremely decorative print of hats and dresses

1831 Victorian french fashion print, Costumes Parisiens

1844 Victorian french men fashion from "Modes de Paris" (Because men are also in fashion :)

1870 Victorian french fashion print from "Le salón de la mode, Paris"

1922 Art deco fashion print, women's clothing from the french edition of Minister gazzete of fashion for the spring of "Golden twenties"

CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS

Chromolithography became the most successful of several methods of color printing developed by the 19th century.

Hand-coloring also remained important; elements of the official British Ordnance Survey maps were colored by hand by boys until 1875.

The initial technique involved the use of multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, and was still extremely expensive when done for the best quality results. Depending on the number of colors present, a chromolithograph could take months to produce, by very skilled workers.

To make an expensive reproduction print as what was once referred to as a "chromo", a lithographer, with a finished painting in front of him, gradually created and corrected the many stones using proofs to look as much as possible like the painting in front of him, sometimes using dozens of layers.

Colors may be added to the print by drawing the area to receive the color on a different stone, and printing the new color onto the paper. Each color in the image must be separately drawn onto a new stone or plate and applied to the paper one at a time. It was not unusual for twenty to twenty-five stones to be used on a single image.

Each sheet of paper will therefore pass through the printing press as many times as there are colors in the final print. In order that each color is placed in the right position in each print, each stone or plate must be precisely ‘registered on the paper.

Offset printing, more cheapier process, replaced chromolithography in the late 1930s.

Flowering Plants - german lithographs

These are fine lithographs printed by the German publishing company "Bibliographisches Institut" from Leipzig, between 1890 and 1900.
These are exquisite quality prints, both in drawing and printing technique and that still today preserve a rich and vibrant color



These prints were originally fitted with a tissue guard with outlines and informative text description of the illustration

You can appreciate the bright coloured on next details of the prints:

old printing techniques: Wood cut

Rhinoceros woodcut image from the book, "The History of the Four-footed Beasts and Serpents.", 1658

Woodcut, a type of relief print, is the earliest printmaking technique, and the only one traditionally used in the Far East. It was probably first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and images on paper. Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Europe, and slightly later in Japan. These are the two areas where woodcut has been most extensively used purely as a process for making images without text.

The artist draws a design on a plank of wood, or on paper which is transferred to the wood. Traditionally the artist then handed the work to a specialist cutter, who then uses sharp tools to carve away the parts of the block that will not receive ink. The surface of the block is then inked with the use of a brayer, and then a sheet of paper, perhaps slightly damp, is placed over the block. The block is then rubbed with a baren or spoon, or is run through a printing press. If in color, separate blocks can be used for each color,or a technique called reduction printing can be used.

Reduction printing is a name used to describe the process of using one block to print several layers of color on one print. This usually involves cutting a small amount of the block away, and then printing the block many times over on different sheets before washing the block, cutting more away and printing the next color on top. This allows the previous color to show through. This process can be repeated many times over. The advantages of this process is that only one block is needed, and that different components of an intricate design will line up perfectly. The disadvantage is that once the artist moves on to the next layer, no more prints can be made.

Another variation of woodcut printmaking is the cukil technique, made famous by the Taring Padi underground community in Java, Indonesia. Taring Padi Posters usually resemble intricately printed cartoon posters embedded with political messages. Images—usually resembling a visually complex scenario—are carved unto a wooden surface called cukilan, then smothered with printer's ink before pressing it unto media such as paper or canvas.

Buffon Prints Natural History 1870

Here are other print of the same year, it's a lovely and romantic country scene, preserving the soul of that time !

Detail:

Detail:

Original antique french plate from 1870ca has a clear and romantic Victorian style and and a beautiful calligraphic typography with text in French.

Buffon Prints Natural History 1870

Detail:

Detail:
Original antique french plate from ca1870 has a clear and romantic Victorian style and and a beautiful calligraphic typography with text in French. There are a funny animals with all its charm

Antique Jellyfish scene from 1908

This is a georgeus jellyfish scene, a fine lithograph from 1908, printed in Germany by Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, Germany in 1908