Here's
a little bit of explanation about the Belgian "PORCELAIN-CARDS".
(Updated page)
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Our typically Belgian "porcelaincards" are
rare and marvelous examples of the very best luxury printing
of the mid-19th century.
For reasons I never managed to find out, almost no information
is to be found about them in literature nor on the internet.
With this page, I try to shed a little light into this unexplored
area of lithography.
A perfect example
of a "crazy" colored card.
- * The process : The
process was called, 'carton porcelaine', or
'carte porcelaine' because it was more or less the
first time this type of luxury glossy paper could be
made and it had the glossy appearence of china or porcelain.
It appeared typically in Belgium around 1840 (the earliest
dated card I saw is from 1837) and was abolished in
the 1860's, according to most sources, when it became
clear that the use of metallic colour powders and lead
oxides was dangerous to the printers.
They were engraved or scratched on lithographic stone and
in most cases printed with all colors in one pass. Colors
were dabbed or brushed on the stone separately, again and
again for each print. Because of this time-consuming process,
cards with more than one color are never absolutely identical.
The most common colors are gold, silver, blue and a typical
reddish metallic. The beauty of porcelaincards cannot be
captured fully with a scan, as most colors used, have a very
typical glitter-quality. When looked upon at a straight angle,
for example, the gold looks like a dull brown, or the reddish
metallic like dark red. The vivid metalic colors only spring
to life when you let the light play on the surface of the
card.
The quality of the printing and the imagination in typographic
decoration, makes these cards the most exquisite printed
ephemera that one can get from this period.
A
splendid 'trompe-l'oeil' Lithographer's card for
Hemelsoet in Ghent.
- * Porcelain-cards : The
tradecards are by far the most interesting and most
impressive porcelain-cards. They say a lot about the
character and sometimes forgotten customs of the people
in the middle of the 19th century. Fixed prices seemed
to be a novelty. Products, gadgets and even commercial
tactics we see as modern appear to have been well developed
150 years ago. The engravings show workplaces, factories,
craftsmen at work, shop-interiors, inventions, all
kinds of different tools and materials. They sometimes
show the only existing view of streets, buildings or
places that never were interesting enough to be depicted
in historical, regional or touristic illustrations.
They were also largely used for sometimes curiously illustrated
calling-cards. We also see them used for marriage, funeral,
festivities, balls and other anouncements (sometimes superbly
illustrated), and for all kinds of cards or calendars printed
especially for new-year by associations, theatres, cafe's,
etc... Others were menu's for large banquets, entrance-cards
for clubs, races, etc., etc.
They were a luxury-product, for shure. Certainly expensive
at the time and not distributed without care ! Some cards
are made in the most extravagant sizes (up to 30 x 40 cm
!) which probably means they were also used to be displayed
as posters.
A
superb hat-maker's card, printed by Daveluy in Bruges.
- * The location : Strangely,
this process was almost exclusively exploited in Belgium.
I never heard a reasonable explanation for this. Ghent,
Bruges and Brussels were the most important producing
towns. But you can find cards made in lots of smaller
towns all over the country.
Some top lithographers are Hemelsoet, Jacqmain, Gyselynck,
Defferrez for Ghent, Daveluy and Delay-Demuyttere for Bruges,
Bevernaege for Oudenaarde and Heger, Schildknecht and Hanotiau
for Brussels.
I've seen a few similar cards that were made in Germany and
in France but, and this is not a patriotic thing, they were
never as colorful nor as decorated as the Belgian ones. On
the other hand, lots of cards were made in Belgium for the
surrounding countries. There is even one for a Moscou hotel
!
The
very large card or poster (29.5 x 39 cm) for a hotel
in Kortrijk.
-
* The collections : The
porcelaincards have been collected in the 19th century
and in fact as soon as they were made. The most obvious
traces of this early collecting are the rare mid-19th
century albums that survived in public libraries and
in some large collections. They were mostly glued on
large blue, yellow or green paper sheets, and bound
in oblong albums containing sometimes over 800 cards.
There are also 2 or 3 different porcelaincards, making
the publicity for "Olin", a stationery-shop in Brussels
with illustrations showing the very distinctive porcelaincard-albums
with the text saying "choice of cards for albums".
One
of those rare cards, printed by Jacqmain, advertising
for porcelaincard-albums.
Unfortunately, most cards were taken out of the albums, and
that's how I find them mostly. During the whole 20th century
and up untill recently it's always been more interesting
commercially to take them appart. But I think and I hope
things are changing. It's been ages since I saw a good complete
album.
 
A locksmith-Stovemaker
and a Toolseller's Tradecard. Click to enlarge.
- * The cards I sell on eBay
: I've always been very attracted
to the 'porcelain-cards' for their extraordinary
quality printing. I've been buying them for over
15 years. Although they were certainly made in
very small quantities (there's one card made to
thank the neighbours for their help with a fire
!), we still see them now and then. But that's
just because they aren't being collected very intesively.
Another reason for the lack of interest (and the fact that
most collectors don't even know they exist, even here !)
is that there's almost no documentation on the subject. There's
only one exhibition catalogue, from the 70's in Brussels,
giving some illustration and very little interesting text.
A
chimney-sweep's card.
Trying to keep up with my time,I've seen myself forced to
jump on the internet-train. It's never been my ambition.
I really don't like the idea of being forced behind my desk
all day long, but there doesn't seem to be an alternative.
So I started to put up my stock of porcelain-cards on eBay
and I have seen it get very slim very fast. Now I'm trying
to get as much as I can for as long as it lasts. So, don't
get the idea that we're flooded in cards over here. I think
this may be the last bits of them we'll ever see on the market
again. Certainly if the US starts being interested. Let's
hope it can go on for a few years though.
I hope this explanation will be of any interest to some of
you out there. Feel free to react or criticise or ask for
any, or better still, give any information. I'll answer whenever
I find the time.
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