A History of electrolytic printmaking methods from 1840 on

Galvanism, or chemically produced electricity, was accidentally discovered by Luigi Galvani in 1789 who was doing experiments on frog's legs and found that muscles twitched when touched by two different metals in contact, a phenomenon he attributed to a fluid in organic tissue. Soon after that Alexandre Volta showed that it was due to a direct electric current, and built a 'galvanic battery' formed by alternating zinc and copper plates separated by fabric soaked in an acidic solution (5). In 1834 Michael Faraday postulated his Laws of Electrolysis (6). Smee and Daniell invented improved versions of galvanic cells, using zinc and copper plates suspended in copper sulphate and sulphuric acid, and Thomas Spencer found that copper was deposited on the cathode or 'negative metal', and that the zinc pole was etched. He and John Wilson were granted a patent in 1840 for "Engraving Metals by Voltaic Electricity" (see Appendix B for text of patent). Spencer continued research into electro-deposition and reproduction of engraved printing plates (22). This was also utilized to reproduce seals and plate small objects by the process that became known as 'Electrotyping'. (TOP)

It was found that applying a direct current from a galvanic cell to a separate 'cell' containing a couple of parallel metal plates in a metallic salt solution (the electrolyte) dissolved metal from the anode (+ve) and deposited metal on the cathode (-ve). This is explained by the fact that an electrolyte, consisting of positive and negative 'ions' will conduct a direct electrical current, which carries the ions to the plate of the opposite polarity. In a copper sulphate solution the positive copper ions collect on the negative copper plate, and negative sulphate ions react with the bare metal of the copper anode - oxidize or etch it in fact - and create new copper sulphate. Thus the electrolyte stays at the same concentration, creating the illusion that copper particles are transferred from one plate to the other - a common fallacy..(TOP)

The process of electrotyping become very widely used for creating printing plates, plating metal objects, decorating silverware and marking cutlery. In 1852 Charles V Walker documented and described all the processes that were currently known in his book Electrotype Manipulation, which went through 29 editions by 1859 and was also published in the USA (7).. Part II included detailed descriptions of Spencer and Wilson's patented process which he called called 'Electro-Etching', and another called 'Electro-tint' (see Appendix A for excerpts). In a series of articles in The Photographic News in 1882, Major J Waterhouse describes "Electric Etching" briefly. R S Chattock describes the process of electro-etching much more fully in his book Practical Notes on Etching published in 1886 specifically for artists (8). The word 'Galvanography' became synonymous with 'Electrotyping', basically meaning a plate made by depositing metal over a mould, a process which is called 'galvanoplasty', but other processes of etching or plating, which used the same electrolytic principles and equipment were included in the original meaning. The term 'Galvanography' was used to distinguish the graphic use of the Electrotyping process from the industrial use or the production of text type plates..(TOP)

After the invention of photography in 1839, there was international competition to find ways of making permanent ink prints of photographs, and many of the methods used electrolytic processes in one way or another. The earliest attempts, by Alfred Donne in 1839, and Joseph Berres in 1840 started with a daguerreotype, which was a photograph on a silvered copper plate, which was plated and then etched (8). But the Austrian, Paul Pretsch took a different approach and patented a process called 'photo-galvanography', in which he began with a photographically exposed dichromated-gelatine mould which was made to reticulate, from which he produced a copper intaglio plate by galvanoplasty. He formed a company in London to produce the first commercially printed photographs called "Photographic Art Treasures" in 1856 (9). .(TOP)

Photograph reproduced on the title page of “Photographic Art Treasures” published by the photo-galvanographic company of Paul Pretsch in 1856. The earliest printed photographic reproductions in England.

The French name for the Electrotype plate-making process is 'galvanotypie' and a plate made by the process was called a 'galvano'. The process was much used in France for intaglio plate-making in the nineteenth century, particularly by the firm of Goupil & Cie, publishers of Fine Art reproductions. They used a process between photogravure and Pretsch's photo-galvanography, but kept the exact process a closely guarded secret (11). British Early Ordnance Survey Map plates were produced by special application of galvanography. In Sheffield, a process of thick silver plating over copper warewas developed and called "Sheffield Plate".

In the twentieth century, S W Hayter described the electrolytic process of depositing metal into lines drawn through a ground on a metal plate, and probably used it at Atelier17 (12). In industry electrolytic processes were used very widely, mainly for plating and protecting metal. Anodising was developed as a process for protecting aluminium. In 1943 a US company called Lectroetch adapted the Electro-Etching process to marking metals of all kinds, and is still supplying equipment and materials for the purpose. Many other companies have started to provide the same service, and electro-etching became well enough known for artists who were interested to learn about it.

In Canada Nik Semenoff and Christine Christos carried out research into electro-etching in 1989, and published a paper in Leonardo, an art journal in 1991, detailing the method for artists, the equipment required, its advantages regarding safety. (19). In Sweden Ole Larsen developed some electrolytic processes, and one that he called "Polytype" was in essence the same as the "Electro-Tint" process described by Charles V. Walker in his 1855 book (7). (................)

For historical and personal reasons, I prefer the original etymology, and the prefix "galv" used in "galvanography". I use the name 'galv-etch' , and galv-on for applications in which the plate is etched, and for consistency, other names using the prefix 'galv-', like galv-tone, galv-plate, or galv-type, which will be used throughout this booklet. The names therefore can be used freely, as can the 1850's name 'electro-etching'. .(TOP)

Commercial electrotyping and block making plant: 1 - cleaning tank; 2 - rectifier; 3 - control unit; 4 - electroplating tank; 5 - anode rod; 6 - plate rod (cathode) (from the Oxford-Duden Pictorial Dictionary).