Chromolithography

多色石版 / 1830s–1930s / Technique / Planographic Printing

Multicolor printing in which a separate lithographic stone is prepared for each color and the stones are overlaid in exact register. A dozen or more stones built up an intensity like oil paint and sent reproductions, labels, posters and cards into the world in quantity. The popularization of color printing begins here.

Chromolithography — Liebig trading card, Woman of Naples, 19th century — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Liebig trading card, Woman of Naples, 19th century — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Chromolithography — Louis Prang & Co., Clark's O.N.T. Spool Cotton advertising card, 1878 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Louis Prang & Co., Clark's O.N.T. Spool Cotton advertising card, 1878 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Chromolithography — Gibson & Co., Calliope, the Wonderful Operonicon, show poster, 1874 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Gibson & Co., Calliope, the Wonderful Operonicon, show poster, 1874 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Dense color built from a dozen or more stones
Slight misregister between the stones
Flat solids used together with stipple
Border ornament used together with gold

Best used for

Using the sheer number of colors as a sign of richness
Leaving the history of the printing process visible

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Dictionary entry

Type: Treat the decorative display face at the same density as the border ornament.
Composition: Enclose the sheet in a border and set the main image at the center.
Material: Combine thick color from overlaid stones with gold at key points.
Caution: More colors do not make it richer. The order of the stones and the register decide the result.
Further study: The number of stones and the process of registration / The move from stone to metal plates / Its spread into yuefenpai and commercial labels

Related entries

Lithography (石版画／リトグラフ)Same Planographic Printing lineage.Compare Chromolithography and Lithography
Victorian Ornament (ヴィクトリアン装飾)Shared effects: Luxury / Nostalgia / Exhilaration.Compare Chromolithography and Victorian Ornament

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