The Art of Découpage

The word “découpage” comes from the French “couper” meaning “to cut”. Découpage is the art of permanently decorating surfaces with paper cutouts. The cutouts are glued to the surface and then severalcoats of varnish, lacquer, glaze or clear-drying glue are applied to give a lacquered finish.The list of items that can be découpaged is virtually endless butmost common are: furniture; wooden boxes and trays of all size and shape; clear glass objects such as plates, platters, bowls, vases, candle holders and paperweights; metal trays and boxes; clay pots; and of course, wall art.Any theme can be employed but Victorian designs are probably the most popular because modern découpage is a revival of the art thatflourished in 18th and 19th century Europe. The art has a long and fascinating history. In eastern Siberia, cutout felt figures and designs were used to decorate objects found in tombs dating from before the time of Christ.The art of elaborate cutting seems to have spread from there to China. In 12th century China, paper cutouts were used to decorate windows,lanterns, gift boxes and other objects. After a while, artisans began applying multiple layers of lacquer to make their work more durable andattractive.In the late 17th century, lacquer furniture from the Far East became fashionable in Europe. Demand quickly exceeded supply and Venetiancabinet-makers and lacquerers began to copy and change the art form.At that time, the wealthy were in the habit of commissioning masterpainters to paint their furniture. It didn’t take long for the découpeurs to draw copies of masterworks and have prints made for theiruse. In fact, many antiques formerly believed to have been painted bythe masters were later found to have been copies using very skillful découpage.To learn more about découpage and how to use this techniqueyourself, visit: http://www.theartfulcrafter.com/decoupage-two.html.