A Pair of Decalcomania Vases Now Mounted as Lamps

Decalcomania is a technique in which engravings and prints are coloured and cut out and then applied to a firm surface such as ceramic or glass. The term derives from the French word décalcomanie which itself stems from décalquer, which means to trace a design using tracing paper, or, papier calque. It was developed as an extension of the transfer printing technique in pottery of pressing a monochrome print onto a ceramic body, invented in England in the 18th century, and sometimes its origin is credited to the London-based French engraver Simon François Ravenet (1706-1774), a contemporary of Hogarth. It became extremely popular in 19th century Britain and later America, where it was sometimes seen as a pastime for genteel ladies, and was particularly used to decorate glass vases and fired to emulate Chinese porcelain. It is also related to the 18th century techniques of découpage in France or lacca povera in Northern Italy whereby cutouts from engravings were affixed to small wooden boxes and objects or larger pieces of case furniture and then varnished, as a less costly and time-consuming alternative to lacquer and japanning.