Draft:Photoceramics

Photoceramics refers to photographic images printed on a porcelain or other ceramic medium. Photoceramic processes are widely used to create memorial images, often affixed to gravestones or other memorial objects, but can also be used to create art, jewelry, and decorate tableware.

Processes

In general, the traditional methods of creating photoceramics involved transferring an image to an emulsion or colloid and then layering the liquid onto a ceramic before firing it. Two processes became most prominent by 1875: the "substitution method" and the "dusting method."

The "substitution method" involves removing a silver gelatin print from its base and toning it with other metals before transferring the image onto a ceramic surface. This necessitates the destruction of the original print. The "dusting method" involves exposing a light-sensitive colloid through a positive transparency and then dusting the resulting tacky surface with powdered pigment. The pigment adheres to the colloid in proportion to how much light it has received, creating an image.

Other methods include cyanotype, laser transfer, gum printing, laser engraving, and screen printing.

Use as Funerary Art

Photoceramics were developed alongside printing processes of other types as photography emerged in the late 19th century. Images of the deceased were prized as funerary art, and photoceramics were more durable than typical photographs on paper or copper.

In the United States, photoceramics appear as funerary art on gravestones dating as early as the beginning of the 20th century. The most prolific producer of photoceramics in the U.S. was the J.A. Dedouch Company, founded in 1893 by Czech immigrant Josef Dedouch. Dedouch photoceramics were produced in Oak Park, Illinois and distributed via mortuaries throughout the United States and, infrequently, abroad.