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Rockingham Prints: Antique matted Prints and other Antiques
Rockingham.Prints makes it possible for almost anyone to own decorative and collectible images produced during the nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries. The vintage prints (not modern reproductions) that we sell are professionally matted in standard sizes, sold in an archival-quality plastic sleeve, and can be given as gifts as is or framed.
These images were made with almost unimaginable craft, and were produced in relatively small quantities with large amounts of skilled hand labor. A close inspection reveals a mind-boggling amount of detail, each line and dot created by the hand of a master artisan.
The fact that a decorative object of interest and beauty between 100 and 200 years old, in necessarily limited supply, can be offered at an affordable price, may be equally mind-boggling in our times.
Rockingham.Prints , located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, is pleased to present these images to the interested buyer.
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Their affordability makes it possible to assemble decorative groupings of images; or to begin (or add to) a collection of images of a personally meaningful subject. The decorator, for example, may choose to search for images of country churches, or railway bridges crossing river gorges, or botanical prints that produce a harmonious display. The collector, on the other hand, may search for images of churches in a particular county, railway bridges along a particular river or botanical prints of a specific genus of plant, focusing more on the completeness of the collection rather than its decorative effect.
The images we sell are primarily engravings, a translation of an original painting or drawing, usually of people, animals or plants, places, or man made objects to a form that can be reproduced on paper by printing. (We sell works on paper, not the wood or metal printing plate that produced them.) These images are primarily in black-and-white, although some were colored by hand after printing, and some were produced by early techniques of color printing.
The engraving and printing process made it possible for people inhabiting a world without television or the internet to see faraway places, exotic species of animals or plants, or portraits of famous people--to explore without leaving their armchair.
The names of the three people or companies that are most responsible for the finished image that we sell are often found on the sheet of paper bearing the image:
The name of the ARTIST who created the original image—who sketched or painted the landscape, portrait, still life, or diagram—is often found in the margin below the image in the lower left-hand corner.
The name of the ENGRAVER —who translated the artist’s original work into an engraving that could be printed—is often found in the margin below the image in the lower-right corner.
The TITLE of the image is usually centered in the lower margin. In our listings, we attempt to include the text of the title. Sometimes it will not fit in the space allotted, and we must edit or supplement the title with additional descriptive information that we have gleaned from the collection that the print comes from. We try to be as accurate as possible when we do this.
The name of the PUBLISHER of the engraving is often found below the title. Occasionally the publisher will include the type of press that the engraving was printed on, since the publisher was proud of his investment in image printing technology.
The DATE of the engraving given in our description is the date that the image was placed on the paper by the publisher. It is not necessarily the date that the original art, or even the date that the engraving was produced. (Given the amount of time and craft involved in producing these images, it would be rare that an image would go from original art to final printed product very quickly.) Therefore, for example, the appearance of a building in an engraving would not necessarily reflect its actual appearance at the date of publication. Indeed, because of their labor-intensive nature, many engravings were bought and sold between publishers and were printed and reprinted over many years. We do not reproduce old prints in any way. (One series that we offer, the Album of Virginia, by Edward Beyer is a 1970's reproduction series released by the Virginia Historic Foundation, and we clearly mark them as such.)
The PAPER that many of these engravings were printed on is far superior to the paper that we see today. Publishers often used exceptionally good paper in order to match the labor that went into the creation of the images. Instead of containing wood fiber, the best paper is made of large percentages of cotton fiber from recycled rags. (In old times, a rag merchant bought old clothing not to resell, but to convert into paper). Different places and times produced paper of differing quality. For example, the American Civil War had a negative effect on the quality of papermaking in the US, but much less so in Europe at the same time.
The storage conditions for these prints were often not the best for paper. Heat and humidity in buildings without air conditioning sometimes caused the edges of paper sheets to turn brown (or for the entire sheet to darken somewhat), and for a type of fungal growth called FOXING to appear. Foxing appears as tan spots on the paper. In some prints that have been bound in books, the text on the page opposite has transferred to the paper of the image we are selling, and appears as a faint ghost image. This is called OFFSETTING.
The large-scale online color images that Rockingham.Prints provides the buyer reveal the condition of the print in advance of the purchase. These images are not altered in any way.
We believe that our MATTING brings out the best in our prints. That’s why we take this extra step. In its acid-free mat and plastic sleeve , the print you buy from us is ready as it is for gift giving, for sales display, or for framing in a standard-size US frame (8” x 10,” 10" x 12", or 11” x 14,” etc.). We mount the prints to the mat with archival-quality adhesive tape which can be removed with no damage to the print. Please note that, due to changing mat color availability, the mat you receive may not always be the color of the mat in our online image, but is selected to harmonize with the color of the paper. You may request that images be shipped unmatted. This will not result in a discount, since the mat functions partly as a protective shipping container, and must be replaced with other protective material to protect prints in shipping.
We sell other printed material of limited availability: postcards, matchbook covers, annuals or yearbooks, and illustrated articles from periodicals.
Thanks to your support and interest in our matted prints, we have embarked on a major upgrade of our offerings. We have many more product lines about to be released.
Please feel free to return any item for refund if you are not totally satisfied. Thank you for supporting our auctions since 1999.
The Wikipedia is a good source of terminology in distinguishing between the various forms of printing. Here are some links to the wikipedia:
Steel Engraving
Engraving
Photogravure
Etching
Intaglio (printmaking)
Printmaking
As those familiar with the Wikipedia know, once inside any of those links, one can further research the subject by following a host of more links in those articles. Much valuable information is contained and can be gathered in a few minutes of study.
An extremely helpful source of information is the book "How to Identify Prints" by Bamber Gascoigne.
Text copyright Rockingham.Prints 2007
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