Not currently on display at the V&A

Print Collection

Scrap
ca.1890 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Scraps first appeared in the early 19th century as black and white engravings, and were later coloured by hand. By the 1820s they had become more elaborate and sometimes embossed, and within a decade both the printing and embossing processes were automated. They were colour printed by chromolithography, and coated with a gelatine and gum layer to give them a gloss finish. After being embossed they were die-cut and put through a stamping press to cut away the unwanted areas of paper, leaving the individual images connected by small strips, often bearing the name or initials of the maker.

Scraps became extremely popular in Victorian England to be cut out by adults or children and stuck into albums, on to screens, or used for decorating greetings cards. This may have been one of a set of pantomime characters, with two clowns and Columbine.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePrint Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Printed paper
Brief description
Miniature printed paper scrap of a Harlequin wearing a mask and carrying his magic bat. Chromolithograph by Siegmund Hildesheimer & Co., ca.1890
Physical description
Multicoloured paper scrap of a Harlequin, dancing to his right wearing a black half-mask, a diamond-patterned costume with a white ruff, and holding his magic bat under his right arm.
Dimensions
  • Irregular height: 4.0cm
  • Irregular width: 2.0cm
Credit line
Given by the British Theatre Museum Association
Subject depicted
Literary referencePantomime
Summary
Scraps first appeared in the early 19th century as black and white engravings, and were later coloured by hand. By the 1820s they had become more elaborate and sometimes embossed, and within a decade both the printing and embossing processes were automated. They were colour printed by chromolithography, and coated with a gelatine and gum layer to give them a gloss finish. After being embossed they were die-cut and put through a stamping press to cut away the unwanted areas of paper, leaving the individual images connected by small strips, often bearing the name or initials of the maker.

Scraps became extremely popular in Victorian England to be cut out by adults or children and stuck into albums, on to screens, or used for decorating greetings cards. This may have been one of a set of pantomime characters, with two clowns and Columbine.
Associated objects
Other number
1963/G/53 - BTMA accession number
Collection
Accession number
S.5:16-2008

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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