DECALCOMANIA Technique: Decals are sometimes referred to as transfers or transfer prints. You might also hear them called “penny transfers.” The last makes them sound cheap but the ones used in the Nippon era, imported from Europe, were of great quality and expensive. Decal and transfer have become interchangeable terms. Decals were enameled images, not stickers. As it pertains to porcelain wares, decaling (or to decal) a ware is the art of transferring by hand a design in the form of a decorative image made from specially prepared paper to a ceramic body usually with the aid of heat or water. This is followed by firing the item to set the decal, transferring the decoration to the ware in a permanent fashion. Decals usually came in sheets often made up of repeating transfers that needed to be separated to use. This invention allowed for fine art to be reproduced reliably. Where Nippon items were concerned, decals mitigated any issues with drawing or painting European faces and expedited the decorating process which proved helpful as demand for wares increased. Nippon era items used decals for ”Portraits” as well as other scenes. This style of décor on wares was primarily used by the Morimura Company.

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