Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1868-01-03
How Chromos are Made.

From the Boston Daily Advertiser.)
Chromo-L -LithogFapby is the art o.
printing from stone, in COlors. The
most difficult branch of (which il
now generally implied when chromOs
are apOken of-is the art Of reproducing
oil paintings. When a chrome is made
by a cOmpetent hand, 1t pTesentsan ex-
act counterpart. of the original painting
with the delicate graduations of tints
and shades, and with much Of the spirii
and tone of production Of the brush
and pallet.
To understand how ehromos are made
the art Of hthography must first be
briefly. explained. The stone used in
Iithographing is a species of limestone
found in Bavaria, and is wrought into
thick slabs Witk finely polished surface.
The drawing IS made upon the slab
with a sort Of colored soap, which ad-
heres to the stone, and enters into a
chemical combination with il after the
application of certain acids and gums.
When the drawing is complete, the
slab is put on the press, and carefully
dampened with q sponge. The oil color
Cor ink is then applied with q common
printers roller. OF e0urse, the parts ot
the slab which contains no drawing,
being wet, resist the inks while the
drawing, itself, being oily, repels the
water, but retains the color applied. 1T
is thus that, without a raised surface OF
ineision-as in common printing, wood
cuts, and steel engraving lithograp ply
produces printed drawing from q per
tectly smooth stone.
In the chrome, the first proof is a
light ground tint, covering nearly all
the surface. 1t has only a faint, shad-
ovy resemblance to the completed pic
ture. 1t is in fret rather q shadow than
an outline. The next proof from the
efr 81 NJ
another color. This process is repeated
again and again and again occasion
ally as often as thirty times. We saw
one proof, In visit to Mr.. Prangss eS-
tablishment,-a group Of cattle,-that
had passed through the press twelve
times; and it still bore asgreater resem-
blance to a s1s-Eec6 eoloroa I5n0tezsraE Elh
than to the charming picture which it
subsequently became. The number OF
impressions, however, does not neces-
sariIy indicate the number of cOl0rs in
a painting, because the cOlors and tints
are greatly multiplied by combinations
created in the process of printing one
over another. In twenty-five impress
sions, it is sometimes necessary and
possible to produce a hundred distinct
shades.
The last impression is made by an
engraved stone, which produces that re-
sem b1ance to canvas noticeable in all
of Mr.. Prang's finer specimens. En-
glish and German chrOmOs, as rule,
do not attempt to give this delicate final
touch, although it would seem to be
essential in order to make a perfect
imitation of a painting.
The paper used is white, heavy,
! HpIate paper" ofthe best quality, which
has to pass through heavy press.
sheet by sheet, before its surface is fit
to receive an impression.
The process, thus briefly explained,
we need hardly add, requires equally
great skill and judgement at every
stage. A single error is instantly de-
| tected by the practiced eye in the finish
ed specimen. The production of 2
chr0Euo, if it is Rt all complicated, re-
! uuires several months-sometimes sew
/ era1 years-of careful preparation. The
mere drawing Of the different and en-
! tirely-detached parts on so many differ
| ent stones is of itselfa work that re-
| quires an amount of labor and degree
/ of skill, which, to a person unfamiliar
1 with The process, would appear lncred-
| ible. Still more difficult, and needing
/ still greater skill, is the process Of col
| Oring. This demands knowledge
! which artists have hitherto almost ex-
! clusively monOpolized, and, in addition
| to it, the practical, familiarity of prln-
/ ter with mechanical details. Drying
/ and "registeringh are as important
/ branches of the art of making chromos
as drawing and coloring. On proper
| registering, for example, the en-
! tire possibility of producing a picture
/ at every stage of its progress depends
/ Registering is that part of a press
I mans work which consists in so ar
ranging the paper in the press, that ii
shall receive the impression on exactly
/ the same spot of every sheet. In book
| work each page must be exactly op-
! posite the page printed on the other
| side of the sheet, in order that the i'm
| preston may not "shOw through" In
| newspaper work this is of less impOr-
| tance, and often is not attended to with
| any special care. But in chrOmO-lith-
| Ogra ply the difference of a hairs
/ breadth would spoil picture; for II
would hopelessly mix up the cOlors.
| After the chrome has passed through
| the press, it is embossed and vanished
/ and then put up for the market. These
! final processes are for the purpose Oi
! breaking the glossy light, and of soften
1 ing the hard outlines which the picture
/ receives from the stone, which imparts
| to it the resemblance Of painting on
! canvas.
Mr.. Prang began his business in the
/ humblest way, but has rapidly inereas-
ed his establis bment, until he now en-
! plOYs fifty WOrkmen,-nearly all Ol
/ them artists and artisans of the mOst
| skilful class, and is preparing to move
1 into a larger building at RoXbury. HC
| uses eighteen presses; and his sales are
/ enormous. His catalogue now embraces
/ a large mum Der of Album Cards. abOut
seventy sets of twelve in each set q
/ beautiful series of illuminated "Beat
/ itudes" and "Scriptural Notices - an
! endless list of our great men, and o.
men not so great after all of juveniles
notably, a profusely illustrated edition
! of "Old Mother Hubbard ;" and of hal
| chromos and chromOs proper. Tait'i
/ "Chickens, y "Ducklings," !" and "Quails'
/ were the first chromos that met instant
/ and wide recognition. Nineteen thou
! sand copies of the "Chiclzens'' alone
were sold. Bricher's "Early Autumn
/ on Esopus CreelS'' is one Of the bes
| chromOs ever made on a small scale
The "Bulinch" and the "Linnet" (aftel
Cruikshank) are admirable. There are
other chromOs which are less successful
and one or two that are not successful
at all; but they are nearly all eXcellen
copies Of the originals, with which tn
defects must be charged.
The chromos of Bricher's painting
are really wonderfully accurate.
Mr.. PrRng's masterpiece, however, i
not yet published, although &c is nearl,
ready for the market. It entirely sur
passes all his previous efforts. It /
CorreggiO's "MAGDALENA," !" and cal
hardly fail, we think, to command
quick sale and hearty recognition.
Like every modern discovery, chro
mo-lithography has its partisans an
Neutrality-suspicious. who claim for it per
haps impossible capabilities, and thos
who regard it as mere handicrafb, whic
no skin can ever elevate into the digni
ty Of an art. We do not care to ente