There is a lot to know about these cards

Card TYPE : paper coating and metal ink printing anno 1830 to 1870 , exquisite in printing and design

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Porcelain cards refer to a specific engraving form which existed only in Belgium from about 1840 into the 1860’s ONLY . Production : a highly glossed stock (like porcelain) and powdered metallic inks applied by hand. Lithostones were used because engraving or handpress would damage the card ! Of course there are known also etchings but it would be to expensive for these cards which editing was on very low numbers. This makes most of these very scarse items . Since the procedée was used for 20 years and visiting cards change all the time … address, owner, more products … and changing from printer from time to time, you think that 2 cards are the same … but they never are … always different, always minor typographic changes, bigger letters, smaller etc … Used colors in inkt = paint are metallic paints, whit is also a color !

The process allowed for extremely delicate and intricate designs, but was abolished due to the high toxicity of the colored powdered inks and lead oxides used. The inkters and printers died very fast on lead intoxication, so it was forbidden at a certain time to use the lead in ink.

So you are warned an advised NOT to wet your fingers with your tongue to remove filthy spots on those cards.

The quality of these cards is beyond imagination, especially when more colours are used. Because of the bright white colour they were compared and referred to as china appearance.

Those cards are about 150 years old but still bright and marvellous. They were a typically Belgian product and are therefore also named Belgian cards. The greater part of all those different printers lived in Bruges, Gent and Antwerp. I think there are maybe approximately 10.000 nds different. 70 % are representing a factory view, products plus the name and address of owner. About 5% are menu cards and numerous “carte de visited” with just name, address and a small vignette. They are looking as a steel “gravure” print but are actually lithographic hand press cards.

There still exist menus, business cards, calendars, visit cards, invitations, songs, celebration papers etc…produced by this rare process, highly sought by collectors.

We have a fine collection of more than 4 thousand, most were found in "albums de collection“

The Cards are thicker and stiffer than normal paper because the paper is really coated with the white lead-containing paint.

FRENCH

Cartes porcelains étaient fabriqué pendant 20 années, surtout en Belgique. Les ouvriers étaient vite toxiqué et meurent poissonné par le contenu de plomp dans les matières utilizes. RARE RARE

DUTCH

Deze kaarten werden gamaakt met gebruikmaking van lood in de verf ( het spierwitte glanzend papier ) en in de metaal inkten die men hiervoor special liet maken. Het effect is schitterend en de kaarten zijn zeer gewild bij verzamelaars. Ddooradat de arbeiders zo vlug strierven aan lood vergiftiging werd het procedee verboden.

GERMAN

Procedee utilisiert um diese Karten zu machen hat man nur 20 Jahren gebraucht, bis 1840 to 1860, nur in Belgien. Die arbeiter werden krank und starbt sehr schnell und Fabricage war verboten