1889 engraved resin Harpers woodcut

[aquarius31]

Originally Posted by william_9

I would imagine it's an acid etch process. It's a pretty simple process that would make sense in a modern short run with some hand detailing.

Hi William, great to hear from you...hope all is well! I did a quick search on the acid etch process and it sounds like it is quite possible that this is in fact how these pieces were made. While I don't have a resin example to compare to, my piece certainly feels more like metal than plastic or some other substance. Also, the dimensions of it are smaller than the original Harper's woodcut so would be difficult for me to justify that it is derived from the original woodblock. It appears that someone could photocopy the image onto transfer paper and then place the paper directly onto the steel surface followed by immersion into an acid bath. It could then be hand-colored to give it a more unique look.

I'm very tempted to pull this out of the frame to see if there's any additional information but will likely wait until I'm at the frame shop in a few weeks for something else. Thanks.

George

[aquarius31]

Hi All,
I went to the frame shop today and brought the Harper's resin etch (or whatever it is) with me. We removed the actual etch from the frame and below are the results. It was cut to the shape of the frame and measures ~8"x10." It has a somewhat sweet smell to it which I don't know how to explain but it was certainly there. The piece itself felt like plastic and the framer told me he recognized it as an older form of plastic called bakelite. There were no markings on the backside and it did look like it had some age to it although to my untrained eye I'm not sure how old it is. The framer said that this approach was popular in the 1930's.

Now I just noticed something very interesting on the etch that would not have been obvious in the frame. On the bottom left there is some sort of signature "FER" followed by "1889" then "WP Snyder." In the original woodcut below you will see that only "WP Snyder" is visible but that could be caused by the limitations on dimension of the woodblock as applied to the paper to create the woodcut.

http://www.sportsartifacts.com/memharperscollege.JPG

To make things even more confusing, I noticed that in Kevin's woodcut that there is "1889" after "WP Snyder." I highly doubt that they would have printed two different variations of this woodcut but I guess it's possible.

I guess I'm even more baffled now as to the process and timeframe given above information but at least wanted to share the observations from this particular piece.

George

[thecatspajamas]

My understanding is that if it's bakelite, it should have a "formaldehyde" smell when heated (dipped in warm water or sometimes by rubbing/friction heat from your finger). If it has a sweet smell, it is most likely resin.

Also (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), isn't bakelite usually carved rather than etched?

[1880nonsports]

it's bakelite.

[aquarius31]

Guys, thanks for the information. It definitely has a sweet smell to it but not the one you get from mom's apple pie...it's that kind of smell that makes you want to gag and as a result I'm getting that baby framed back up quickly

[drcy]

Bakelite only comes in dark colors. Perhaps its catalin, which is a very close cousin. Bakelite and catalin are made from the same base chemicals, but catalin can come in bright colors. Due to the shared chemicals, they have the same smell under hot water.

Both are vintage plastics but not from the 1800s.