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Decalcomania (fromFrench:décalcomanie) is a decorative technique by which engravings and prints may be transferred to pottery or other materials.
A shortened version of the term is used for a mass-produced commodity, art transfer, or product label, known as a "decal".
Decalcomania is adapted from Frenchdécalcomanie, equivalent todécalquer, "to transfer a tracing of", plus English-mania. The verb "décalquer" is based on Italiancalcare, "to stomp, trample", ultimately from Latincalx, "heel". Decalcomania was first recorded in English in the early 1860s.[1]
Decalcomania was first used commercially in England about 1750 and imported into the United States at least as early as 1865. Its invention has been attributed toSimon François Ravenet (1706–1774), an engraver from France who later moved to England and perfected the process, which he called "décalquer" (derived from Frenchpapier calque, "tracing paper").[citation needed] The first known use of the French termdécalcomanie, inMary Elizabeth Braddon'sEleanor's Victory (1863), was followed by the Englishdecalcomania in an 1865 trade show catalog (The Tenth Exhibition of theMassachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association); it was popularized during the ceramic transfer craze of the mid-1870s. By around 1875 decalcomania designs printed in colored glazes were being applied toporcelain, an extension oftransfer printing, which had been developed in England since the late 18th century. The decalcomania was applied over an already glazed surface and re-fired. The process began to be mechanized from the turn of the 20th century.
ThesurrealistÓscar Domínguez referred to his work as "decalcomania with no preconceived object". He took up the technique in 1936, usinggouache spread thinly on a sheet of paper or other surface (glass has been used), which is then pressed onto another surface such as acanvas. Domínguez used black gouache, though colours later made their appearance.[citation needed]
German artistMax Ernst also practiced decalcomania, as didHans Bellmer andRemedios Varo.[citation needed]
French surrealistYves Tanguy used the technique in his 1936 worksPaysage I andPaysage II, which were included in theGuggenheim Museum's exhibition "Surrealism: Two Private Eyes" (4 June – 12 September 1999, New York).[2]
The production of decalcomanias has not been confined to art. AtYale University,fingerpaint decalcomanias have been analysed for their tendency to generatefractals when the process is repeated several times on the same paper.[3]
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