Glossary of Antique and Vintage Print Terms
What is a Lithograph, Copper Engraving, Woodcut or an Aquatint?
Since the first printing press was used in Germany in the 15th century, printmaking has evolved over the next few centuries. For new collectors of antique prints, the differences may be hard to understand. This glossary is written to explain the basic terms related to the most common antique print types.
Most collectors of antique prints look for prints dating from the early 17th century to the mid-19th century. During this period, prints became clearer and the detail became finer with innovative printing methods.
Lithograph Prints
Lithograph prints were invented in the late 18th century by German writer, Alois Senefelder, on the principle that oil repels water. Artwork was traced onto a limestone slab with a greased or waxy pencil. Water was added and was absorbed by the stone, but repelled by the grease. Printer's ink was spread over the stone slab, clung to the grease lines and was repelled by the water. The illustration is then pressed onto a piece of paper.
Woodcut Print
The woodcut print is a print made by a block of wood that has had the illustration carved into it. It is actually a relief print in that the areas not to be printed are carved out of the block leaving only the raised areas, much like rubber stamps. The blocks were pressed onto the paper.
The first woodcuts were used by the ancient Egyptians to impress letters into bricks. The ancient Chinese used carved wood blocks to illustrate books. Woodcuts were then used extensively in late middle-age Europe. And the majority of those prints were religious in nature.
There still exists today a woodcut of St. Christopher and it is dated 1423 . It is in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England, and is the earliest known dated example of a dated woodcut print.
Copper Engraving Print
With steel and copper engravings, the illustration is traced on a copper plate and is then cut into the metal with by hand using a special tool called the burin. Unlike the woodcut, these lines gouged into the plate hold the ink and it is these indentations that create the transfer when held under a press. Copper engravings appeared in the mid 16th century as an innovative evolution to a finer print.
Steel engravings replaced copper after 1830, so it is easy to distinguish the print type based on the date of publication.
Etchings
Etchings were made by using acid to eat away at the lines traced onto a metal plate that has been coated with beeswax. This is known in the printing trade as "biting." The drawing is scratched onto the coated metal with an etching needle, the metal plate it then bathed in acid and the acid is left to fill in the scratched lines and eat away or "bite" the copper plate in those areas.
As with engravings, the plate was inked and wiped with only the impressed lines holding the ink for the transfer under a press.
The first etchings were created in the 16th century and the medium was pioneered by old master painters, including Rembrandt van Rijn and Albrecht Dürer.
Aquatint Prints
The first aquatint prints were created in the 18th century. Aquatints are similar to etchings, but allow for different effects depending on the length of time the acid is left on the plate. A resin is dusted over the plate and heated to create patterns.The various shades created with this method, resemble soft watercolor washes.
This is a popular revived medium for contemporary artists, including Pablo Picasso, who experimented with aquatints in the first half of the 20th century.
Learning the Basics of Print Type
These are the most common terms used when buying or selling antique and vintage prints. Less common terms include, mezzotint, stipple and chromolithograph. Experience teaches the collector how to decipher an aquatint from a copper engraving. A basic understanding of the different methods used in printing will assist the collector when purchasing antique botanical prints, old world landscapes or portraits.
References
Early 19th Century Aquatint
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1851 Steel Engraving
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Aquatint Early 19th Century
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