Object number: AMHT-2014-111.1-12
Object Description: Copper Printing Plates
Object Type: Artefact
As a practical person, I do love an object that has a functional purpose, and this certainly fits the bill. Or should I say ‘these’ fit the bill, as it’s not just one object, but twelve! They are copper printing plates and as I couldn’t decide which one I liked the best, I thought I’d feature them all.
Purchased from a Bonhams auction in 2014, the copper plates are all different sizes and are mounted on wooden boards that have been painted black. The smallest plate measures approximately 100mm x 75mm, whereas the largest one is around 190mm x 95mm. Each has a white ‘Aston Martin’ label. The cars in question range from the 1½ litre pre-war era (1931 – 1945), to the early David Brown era (1947 – 1959).
The plates are as follows:
1: 1½ litre Le Mans 2/4 seater Sports Model
2: DB2/4
3: DB3 race car built by Eberan von Eberhorst, with race number 76. Believed to be DB3/5 when it competed in the Grand Prix de Monaco, June 1952, driven by Lance Macklin
4: Front view of a 1½ litre Mark II, 2/4 seater (third series)
5: Side view of an International Sports chassis from 1931/1932
6: Rolling DB2 chassis
7: 1½ litre third series
8: Two Litre Sports, registration THX 231, chassis AMC/48/2 in front of bushes
9: DB Mark III
10: 1½ litre Le Mans Special 4-seater
11: Le Mans short chassis from above
12: A pre-war chassis with no radiator fitted
The images have been etched onto the copper and are made up of lots of tiny dots, each designed to interact with the ink in different ways to produce subtle tones. If you look closely, the details are quite amazing. You can make out tyre treads, dashboard dials and wire mesh. The skill in manufacturing these plates lies with remembering that the design needs to be a ‘reverse’ of the final image. A bit like a photographic negative perhaps. The darker areas on the plate will end up lighter in the printed image.
These images would have been used in Aston Martin brochures of the time, to market the latest must-have model. And yes, before you ask, we have many of these brochures in the archive too…
