Collection in Focus - August 2007

Pochoir : prints for interior decoration, book and fashion illustration

Pochoir, the French word for stencil, is a method of coloring illustrations for books, journals, and fine art prints. Pochoir printing was at its peak in commercial publishing in the early twentieth-century. At that time there may have been over thirty studios in Paris alone. The manual and time-consuming process of pochoir is best utilized in creating limited edition prints displaying sensuous textures and luxurious colors.

A craftsman known as a decoupeur would cut a few to hundreds of different stencils for each sheet. Then coloristes would apply each layer of color using a separate pompon, a brush of short coarse animal hair. A drawing of a pompon can be seen below in Saude's Traite d'enluminure d'art au pochoir, page 59.

If you are interested in seeing any of these books or in learning more about the art of pochoir please contact the Ingalls Library.

Click on an image for a larger view.

Benedictus, Edouard
Nouvelles variations : soixante-quinze motifs de'coratifs en vingt planches par Benedictus
Paris : Albert Levy, Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1924
Presented by Rudolph Kirch
Call number: NK1535 .B46 1924

Durenceau, Andre, 1904-
Perleberg, Hans Carl, 1875-
Inspirations : twenty-four plates, with 128 compositions by Andre Durenceau
Woodstock, N. Y. : H. C. Perleberg, 1928
Purchased from the Trustees Library Purchase Fund, 1932
Call number: NK1535 .D85 1928

Legrand, Edy 1892-1970
Macao et Cosmage, ou l'experience du bonheur
Paris: Nouvelle revue francaise, 1919
Gift of Irvin & Gormley
Call number: PZ23 .L497 M33 1919

Saude, Jean
Traite d'enluminure d'art au pochoir
Paris : Editions de l'Ibis, 1925
Purchased from the income of the Susan Barber Woodhill Memorial Fund established in 1929 by the will of Cornelia I. Woodhill in memory of her mother
Call number: NE1850 .S3 1925

Seguy, Eugene Alain
Samarkande : 20 Compositions en couleurs dans le Style oriental
Paris : Charles Massin, 1920
The Library of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchased for the John Huntington Library with funds donated by the John Huntington Art & Polytechnic Trust
Call number: NK1535 .S4 A56 1920z

Thomas, Auguste H.
Formes et couleurs : vingt planches en couleurs contenant soixante-sept motifs decoratifs
Paris : Albert Levy, Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1921
Presented by Miss Juanita Sheflee, Cleveland
Call number: NK1510 .T5 1920z