copper plate with medal image

[imperialjapan]

Not really military related as far as I can tell, but maybe someone can help me. Found with a bunch of medals, etc. It is a piece of copper on a wood block. The copper has an image of a fellow in civilian garb with medals on his chest. WTH is this? Something newspaper-related? Any help would be appreciated.

[imperialjapan]

more pics

[GHP]

Hi Rich,

Yeah, looks like blocks I've seen that were used for newspapers. I found a process description for you:

The first photographic images printed in newspapers were actually wood engravings meticulously hand-copied from a photograph printed in the normal way. By the 1890s, however, prints were made in essentially the same way they are today: through halftoning — printing different tones as patterns of small dots varied in size and spacing. By the 1929s, this technique was relatively sophisticated, although arguably the image quality afforded by hand-engraving was still much higher, but hand-engraving also required considerable artistry and time (and therefore expense). More sophisticated ink prints could be made through photogravure, and while those were used for high-quality books, that process was also far too expensive for newspapers, advertising flyers, or cheap magazines.


Halftones were made like this: the original printed photograph was re-photographed through a glass screen with a pattern of tiny apertures, onto a film or a plate. This was then developed at very high contrast, resulting in dots which varied in size according to the intensity in the original. This, in turn, was used to make a sort of contact print on a sheet of metal using a material which would harden when exposed to light. The rest of that material was then washed away, and acid etch used to dissolve the bare areas between the dots. This resulted in a plate which was used in the printing press. (It'd be fastened to a wood block and locked into place along with the type on the page.)

--Guy

[GHP]

I can't make out the last kanji of his given name .... something like:
笠井致敬
Kasai MasaSomething

I couldn't get any google hits.


--Guy

[imperialjapan]

Thanks, Guy. Î appreciate your help.

(not sure how I added the mark on top of the 'I', LOL. I did hit a few keys at the same time but wasn't able to duplicate it...)

[hawkes]

hi rich just to confirm guys reply and being a printer by trade its a electrotype halftone block used in the letterpress printing process it was produced by a chemical and electrical process that simplified hand engraving but was still an involved and skilled trade these blocks have become quite collectable you are correct in the metal being copper it was the perfect metal for this process

[chen]

I can't make out the last kanji of his given name .... something like:
笠井致敬
Kasai MasaSomething

I couldn't get any google hits.


--Guy

The first 2 Kanji looks like a name but the last 2, if read together, means" to give my respect"

[imperialjapan]

Thanks for your help, everyone!