Ghost Signs

ゴーストサイン / 1880s–1950s / rediscovery / Style / Signage and Display

Hand-painted brick-wall advertisements faded by weather. The lettering of the craftsmen called wall dogs, through peeling and fading, is being rediscovered as a stratum of urban memory.

Paint applied straight to brick / Fading and peeling / Craftsman lettering / Layers of overpainting

Ghost Signs — ロンドンのゴーストサイン（CC BY-SA 4.0）Ghost Signs — Wills's Gold Flakeの壁面広告（CC BY-SA 4.0）
ロンドンのゴーストサイン（CC BY-SA 4.0） ／ Wills's Gold Flakeの壁面広告（CC BY-SA 4.0）

Dictionary entry

Best used for
Comparing primary sources and canonical works · Extracting principles that transfer to other media
Type
Observe the letters, signs and scale of reference works
Composition
Extract the one structure that governs gaze and information
Material
Verify the materials and behaviors specific to era, region and process
Caution
Don't reduce it to surface signs. Verify the context of era, region, technology and makers.
Further study
the wall dogs' craft / the archaeology of overpainted layers / the preservation vs. faux-retro debate

Related entries

Back to index position