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SCRAPS
became more advanced and also more accessible.
From the 1840s the invention of a
chromolithographic process allowed printers
to make colour printed pictures.
The first colour scraps
The prints made in the 1840s and 1850s
were still quite primitive compared to later
because the printing process was so elaborate:
when making prints in colour, every
colour needed its own stone plate, thus
colour pictures were also quite expensive to
print. But later the process became much
more efficient and a world of colours were
introduced to the printers and the public. The
printers immediately saw the opportunity of
selling colourful pictures to the many collectors:
at first, mainly adults, only in the latter
part of the century did it become a hobby for
children.
The glossy pictures
Around 1860 the first elaborate colour scraps
with glossy surfaces appeared. In these years
the scraps were small and rectangular and
made in sheets to cut out with scissors. The
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motives were dreamy and sentimental depicting
children and romantic couples and held
in pastel colours, some were even decorated
with gilded frames and tinsel. Later the
printing technique became even more refined
and the scraps were embossed and surplus
paper was cut off around the edges which
gave the scraps a new dimension and range
of motives.
The golden age of scraps
From the 1860 and to the 1910s the production,
quality and fascination with the shiny
pictures peaked – they were widely used for
decorating albums, small decorative boxes,
jars, furniture, screens as well as cakes and
greeting cards. The world famous Danish fairy
tale writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-
1875) was also enchanted by the scraps. He
made both picture albums for children and
decorated large screens using various kinds
of scraps. But even though the tradition of
decorating with scraps was widespread and
they were printed in thousands and thousands
of sheets, the ephemeral nature of the
scraps has made these early originally printed
lithographic pictures of the 19th century
increasingly rare on the market.
BRUUN RASMUSSEN BOOK AUCTION 808