Jozef Chelmonski(1849-1914),Rzepowa

format:20x25cm passe-partout, heliogravure (plate imprint visible), signed on the plate l.d. "Chelmonski".

Under the composition signature of the artistic lithography workshop "Meisenbach Riffarth &Co" .Graphic comes from the portfolio illustrating the works of Sienkiewicz published in 1898.

Georg Meisenbach was a German engraver and inventor of the autotype. In 1883 Meisenbach & Co. merged with Heinrich Riffarth & Co. to form Meisenbach Riffarth & Company, a well-known European graphic arts firm.

Heliogravure (gr.helio + gravure) - a type of graphic intaglio printing technique, similar to aquatint, involving the photographic transfer of an image onto a metal plate (usually copper) and etching with photosensitive emulsion so that the brightest areas create the shallowest recesses. Invented in 1879.Printing is done in a special hand press. Heliogravure, which was widespread in the 19th century, was later supplanted by rotogravure, as heliogravure is an expensive and very time-consuming method. Heliogravure is used only when it is necessary to create a small number of copies of very high quality.