Woodcut
2008 (cut)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The invention of printing allowed books and images to become household objects. Both could be reproduced quickly and in large numbers, whereas before this revolutionary technology they could only be drawn, painted or written by hand.
The use of woodblocks to print text had been known in the East since the 8th century. In Europe the technique was first applied to textiles, but shortly after 1400 it was adopted also for images.
Soon, texts too were reproduced by various methods of printing. The final breakthrough came in the 1450s, when Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz produced a Bible using a new method based on moveable type, with individual metal letters and characters.
The artist Anne Desmet was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum to produce a facsimile woodblock, copied from a French sixteenth century sheet of uncut playing cards in the collection by Gilles Savoure and make prints from the block. The whole process was filmed and can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries.
The use of woodblocks to print text had been known in the East since the 8th century. In Europe the technique was first applied to textiles, but shortly after 1400 it was adopted also for images.
Soon, texts too were reproduced by various methods of printing. The final breakthrough came in the 1450s, when Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz produced a Bible using a new method based on moveable type, with individual metal letters and characters.
The artist Anne Desmet was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum to produce a facsimile woodblock, copied from a French sixteenth century sheet of uncut playing cards in the collection by Gilles Savoure and make prints from the block. The whole process was filmed and can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | printing block made of pearwood |
| Brief description | Facsimile woodblock of an uncut sheet of 16th century playing cards by Gilles Savouré in the collection, made by Anne Desmet, 2008 |
| Physical description | Block of pearwood with inked design on both sides. One side shows the beginning of the cutting process and the other side shows the completed design cut into the wood. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | In 2006 the printmaker Anne Desmet was commissioned by the V&A's Medieval and Renaissance Gallery team to produce a facsimile woodblock copied from a French sixteenth century sheet of uncut playing cards by Gilles Savouré (E.988-1920) held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and make prints from the block. The whole process was filmed for a 'How Was it Made' video which can now be seen in the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Galleries. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The invention of printing allowed books and images to become household objects. Both could be reproduced quickly and in large numbers, whereas before this revolutionary technology they could only be drawn, painted or written by hand. The use of woodblocks to print text had been known in the East since the 8th century. In Europe the technique was first applied to textiles, but shortly after 1400 it was adopted also for images. Soon, texts too were reproduced by various methods of printing. The final breakthrough came in the 1450s, when Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz produced a Bible using a new method based on moveable type, with individual metal letters and characters. The artist Anne Desmet was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum to produce a facsimile woodblock, copied from a French sixteenth century sheet of uncut playing cards in the collection by Gilles Savoure and make prints from the block. The whole process was filmed and can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries. |
| Associated object | E.988-1920 (Original) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.177-2010 |
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| Record created | October 4, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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