I found a label proof recently that is something of a mystery. This appears to be a die proof of some kind, printed for the Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co. There is no imprint of a bank note printer, so I'm not sure who engraved it, but it is definitely an intaglio proof -- I can feel the raised ink. The odd part is that the image is reversed. I've seen other proofs of this in different ink colors and they are all reversed like this. A similar proof brought $170 in a 2009 Cherrystone Auction, but mine was far less.
Fuchs & Lang manufactured lithographic presses and the portrait on this label is of J. Alois Senefelder, inventor of lithography (I'll flip the image to make it easier to read). They also produced printing ink and I think these labels were used to seal the ink cannisters.
All the labels I've seen are lithographs or offset printed. I'm wondering whether the engraved reversed die may have been part of a process to create a lithographic mirror image. Anyone know what the "negative image" was used for?
"... Die: The original engraving of a stamp design, usually recess-engraved in reverse on a small flat piece of soft steel. In traditional intaglio printing, a transfer roll is made from a die and printing plates are made from impressions of the transfer roll ..."
"Perhaps you are looking at a proof of the transfer roll?
Or, would that be a positive, and you are looking at a proof of the die?"
You can't really make a proof from a transfer roll (I know someone who tried). Since the roll is intended to impress the image into a metal plate, the incised lines that would hold ink actually protrude.
James Lee is a good lead -- I will see what I can find out from him.
Mystery solved! With a little help from Mark Tomasko, author of "The Feel of Steel: The Art and History of Bank Note Engraving in the United States". Here's his response to my query:
"It is definitely not a print from a transfer roll. I have never heard of transfer rolls being used for printing, and remember, that would be letterpress, not intaglio. The way you can get a reverse print from an intaglio die is to print it offset, I.e., printing an intaglio image onto an intermediary piece such as a rubber blanket, which is then used to print a piece of paper."
So, knowing the final product would be offset printed, Fuchs & Lang commissioned an engraving to be made in reverse (actually a positive image on the engraved steel plate). My proof would have been printed directly from that plate using intaglio methods (hence the raised ink) as a quick way to see various color samples. But the labels themselves were printed using that intermediate step onto a rubber roller, then to paper, with the end result in readable form.
