Henry Moore (1898-1986) - Collotypes from Shelter Sketchbook
These are from the boxed set, first edition, published in Berlin in 1967. There are 80 collotypes in total.
Each of the 80 collotypes has a unique HMF (Henry Moore Foundation) catalogue number. The set was limited to 180 copies, of which these are each number 168.
The shelter sketchbook was executed between 1940-42. The drawings were made for Moore's larger Shelter drawings which had been commissioned by the War Artist Committee. Moore made these sketches during the nights he spent in different London Underground stations, then used as shelters and underground dormitories during the German bombings.
The collotypes of the 80 drawings in this set were printed at Ganymed Press, Berlin, in 1967.
Price: £210, each to include extra thick (2.4mm) museum board mount, solid oak frame (35mm width) and UV protective glass.
The collotype printing process
The collotype plate is made by coating a plate of glass or metal with a substrate composed of gelatin or other colloid and hardening it. Then it is coated with a thick coat of dichromated gelatin and dried carefully at a controlled temperature (a little over 50° Celsius) so it "reticulates" or breaks up into a finely grained pattern when washed later in approximately 16 °C water. The plate is then exposed in contact with the negative using an ultraviolet (UV) source which changes the ability of the exposed gelatin to absorb water later. The plate is developed by carefully washing out the dichromate salt and dried without heat. The plate is left in a cool dry place to cure for 24 hours before using it to print.
It can produce results difficult to distinguish from metal-based photographic prints because of its microscopically fine reticulations which compose the image. Due to its complicated nature, the process fell out of commercial use. There is now (2021) only one commercial collotype printing studio in the world, based in Kyoto, Japan.
