Vue du Pensionnat des Soeurs de la Charité, de Jesus et de Marie, a Courtrai.
(ca. 1840-1860). 5 x 7. An elegant card with a view of this girls' school in the medieval Flemish town of Coutray. This sizeable gated school is surrounded by formal plantings of trees and gardens. The view is enclosed in an elaborate foliate border chromolithographed in green, blue, pale red, & gold. Light wear & soil, paper residue on reverse. Very good. Item #18495
Carte Porcelaine was prized for trade cards, & calling cards, Champagne & wine labels, menus, announcements, and invitations. Collecting these porcelain cards was a popular 19th c. pastime. Stationers sold cards and the Albums created for them. Most cards on the market today were removed from albums a long time ago.
Many cards were printed in blue ink, then varnished and dusted with metallic powders (silver, bronze, & gold). Multi-colored cards were printed from multiple stones.
These chromolithographed cards were produced largely from 1840-1860. Printed on card stock coated with white lead, they appeared to be enameled like porcelain. Michael Twyman writes "This white lead coating was subject to pressure from steel cylinders at the final stage of manufacture, which gave it a sheen and also ensured a perfectly smooth printing surface" allowing lithographic printers "to produce extremely intricate work, which they did by turning to the process of engraving on stone.” Porcelain paper was abolished in the 1860s as the process was toxic.
A History of Chromolithography, p. 422.
Price: $150.00