Description
Set of 2 Antique Booklets, Domino and Marbled Paper Covers, Early 1800s.
This set includes 2 antique booklets from the early 1800s, each featuring unique covers and rich historical content. The first booklet is French, with religious content, dating from the late 1700s or early 1800s. It is adorned with Domino paper, likely produced by the renowned Remondini family, showcasing a design of thorny green leaves arranged in lozenges and quadrilobate flowers in shades of brick red on a beige background.
The second booklet is Italian, dated 1848, containing patriotic Risorgimento-themed poetry. It boasts a marbled paper cover in tones of blue, white, light yellow, and pinkish-red.
Dimensions:
Domino Paper Book: 5 3/8″ x 3 1/4″, thickness 3/8″ (13.5 cm x 8.5 cm, thickness 9 mm).
Marbled Paper Book: 5 1/2″ x 3 7/8″, thickness 1/2″ (14 cm x 9.7 cm, thickness 5 mm).
Condition:
Both booklets are in good condition, with normal signs of wear and no missing pages.
HISTORY OF “DOMINO” PAPER:
A precursor to modern wallpaper, dominoté papers were produced modestly and economically compared to marbled papers, and were used as coverings for various furnishings and in the book industry as temporary covers for manuscripts awaiting binding. Often featuring geometric or floral patterns, dominoté papers became fashionable among the upper classes around the 18th century. Production spread to Britain and Italy, with the famous Remondini factory in the Venetian Republic, Bassano del Grappa, active from 1660 to 1860, achieving much greater success and leading to the demise of the French industry.
‘Domino’ printed paper is a decorated paper with patterns printed using a woodblock, with color applied using a paintbrush or stencil. In France, these decorated sheets peaked in popularity during the second half of the 18th century. Other countries had their own printing methods for substantial volumes of decorated paper. Germany used copper-plate printing for ‘gold embossed’ paper, while Italy employed multiple woodblocks for intricate, richly colored paper.
Dominoté paper was used for decorating the interiors of boxes, drawers, and small furniture items, primarily for covering books and brochures. Floral patterns often mimicked brocade, Cordoba leather, and Indian fabrics, and were designed as wallpaper to create a continuous, repetitive pattern when assembled side by side. Dominotiers set up workshops throughout France, with Paris, Chartres, Le Mans, and Orleans being major production centers.
The dominotier workshop was typically small, often family-run. The craftsman engraved their own wood stencils or enlisted an artisan engraver. The woodblock print was dabbed with a ‘frotton’ on a sheet of paper in ‘crown’ format (approx. 45 x 36 cm). Color, composed of natural pigments and gum Arabic, was added by hand or stencil. The sheet bore its name, the town of production, and a number written on the edge. Thousands of copies were printed and sold cheaply, though these fragile prints were not highly regarded at the time due to their popularity. However, they are now rare and have been revived by historians, collectors, and artisans in recent years.
This set of antique booklets offers a glimpse into the rich history of Domino paper and marbled paper covers, making it a valuable addition to any collection.
