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"How Do I Know If My Print is Real?" article by Leila Lyons in Sept/Oct issue of California Homes
September 4, 2006
"How Do I Know If My Print is Real?"
by Leila Lyons
From the beginning of the printing process in the fifteenth century, fakes, forgeries, re-strikes, and reproductions abounded. Plates were passed from generation to generation within a family, from one firm to another, plagiarized by competitors, corrected, and reprinted yet again.
So how do you know if you are looking at an original print or a copy done later? Begin by looking at the paper on which the graphic is printed. Handmade paper has identifying characteristics due to the particular processes used to make each sheet. Fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth century papers were pressed, making the fibers somewhat raised and “nappy” to the touch. During the eighteenth century, papers were shaken on a screen and when held up to the light show horizontal and vertical lines and often the maker’s mark. Nineteenth and twentieth century papers are rolled through a press, producing an even and smooth surface.
Working with high power magnification, an expert next examines the inks. Fifteenth and sixteenth century inks are either animal, vegetable, or mineral (squid, charcoal, ground semi-precious stones) and, when magnified, lines will form what looks like a hollow trough — darker black on the outside edges and lighter black in the center. India ink was used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and filaments will show under close examination. Inks after the Industrial Revolution are aniline chemical inks and under magnification a residual grain can be seen.
Finally you should consult reference books to make sure that the image itself is correct. Is the print the same size as the original when published? Is the medium used the same as in the original publication? Has it been copied from another image such as a painting or an earlier print?
Art work that has been copied photographically is not an original print but rather a reproduction. Early photographic and offset images can be fairly easily identified under high powered magnification. Look for colors and lines that break down into uniform and repetitive patterns: dots, dashes, octagons, and hexagons. Modern offset and digital printing, however, have become so sophisticated and computer color analysis so accurate that magnification is not much help and the expert must again return to evaluating the paper and inks.
Veteran art dealer Leila Lyons and her husband established Lyons Ltd. Antique Prints in Palo Alto, CA in 1968. She is the author of Instant Expert: Collecting Prints (Random House, 2006) and has published numerous articles in national magazines and periodicals. Visit the Education section of LyonsLtd.com for more information. Mrs. Lyons has led workshops on valuating antique prints for the International Society of Appraisers; to find a professional appraiser in your area visit isa-appraisers.org.
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