Chine-colle bonds thin paper to a heavier support during printing, adding color and texture. Learn its history, technique, and use by Matisse and Redon.
Look closely at an etching by Edgar Degas from the 1870s and you may notice that the printed image sits on a slightly different paper than the surrounding sheet. The image-bearing paper is thinner, smoother, and sometimes a different color. This is chine-colle, a technique where a layer of delicate paper is bonded to a heavier support sheet during the printing process. The thin paper pulls finer detail from the inked plate than the thicker backing sheet could manage on its own, and the color of the thin paper adds a tonal quality that becomes part of the image.
Chine-colle is a printmaking technique in which a thin sheet of paper is placed between an inked printing plate and a heavier backing sheet, then run through a printing press together. The pressure of the press transfers the ink to the thin paper and simultaneously bonds the thin paper to the backing sheet, sometimes with the aid of paste, sometimes through pressure alone. The name comes from French: chine refers to China, because the thin papers originally used were imported from China, and colle means glued. The technique is used with intaglio processes like etching and engraving, with relief processes, and with lithography.
This entry covers what chine-colle is, how it works, its history, which artists used it, and what to look for when you see it in a print.
The basic process is straightforward. The printing plate is inked and wiped as usual. A thin sheet of paper, trimmed to the size of the plate or to a specific shape, is dampened and placed face-down on the inked plate. A thin layer of paste is applied to the back of the thin paper. A heavier, dampened backing sheet is placed on top. The entire stack is run through the printing press. Under pressure, the ink transfers from the plate to the thin paper, and the thin paper adheres to the backing sheet. The result is a two-layered print: the image on the thin paper, the thin paper bonded to the heavier support.
The Museum of Modern Art defines chine-colle as producing "a two-layered paper support: a tissue-thin paper, cut to the size of the printing plate, and a larger, thicker support paper below." See their definition at MoMA.
There are variations. In the direct print method, the thin paper is trimmed to size after being placed on the plate, ensuring exact registration. In the pre-pasted method, paste is applied to the thin paper and allowed to dry, like a postage stamp. When ready to print, the paper is dampened to reactivate the paste and placed on the plate. Some artists skip paste entirely, relying on the pressure of the press and the fiber structure of the paper to fuse the layers.
The papers used for chine-colle are typically Japanese papers made from kozo, mitsumata, or gampi fibers. These papers are thin enough to pull fine detail from the plate, strong enough to survive dampening and pressing, and available in a range of colors and textures. Gampi paper, with its polished surface, produces a smooth, luminous print. Kozo paper, made from the inner bark of the mulberry tree, is stronger and more textured.
Artists choose chine-colle for three reasons. First, thin paper captures finer detail than thick paper. The fibers in a heavy etching paper are coarse and absorbent, which can soften fine lines. A thin Japanese paper has shorter fibers and a smoother surface, pulling crisp detail from the plate. Second, the thin paper can be colored, adding a tonal layer behind the printed image without printing ink. A pale yellow chine paper can warm an entire image; a blue one can cool it. Third, the thin paper creates a visual boundary between the image and the surrounding backing sheet, framing the image without a printed border.
The Fort Wayne Museum of Art describes how William Bailey used an off-white gampi paper with a polished surface to set off his still-life etchings against a matte white support, and how Steven Sorman used chine-colle paper as a formal element in the composition rather than just a backdrop. Read more at Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
Chine-colle emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when European printmakers began using imported Asian papers for fine prints. From the 1750s to the 1830s, papers made from bamboo and mitsumata fibers by Japanese papermakers, imitating Chinese calligraphy paper, were imported to Europe as wrapping and packing material. Printmakers discovered that these papers, originally sold as packaging, could receive ink with extraordinary fidelity. The paper was adopted for line engraving, particularly for steel engravings in high-quality illustrated books.
By the 1830s, European manufacturers began producing "mock India" papers to imitate the imported Asian papers. Bible paper, a thin Western paper, was also used. The American Institute for Conservation documents that the collé paper was sometimes chosen to blend with the color of the backing sheet and sometimes to contrast with it. Read the conservation notes at AIC.
In the 19th century, chine-colle became standard for high-quality illustrated books and fine art prints. The technique allowed publishers to produce deluxe editions on China paper while keeping the structural support of heavier stock. By the 20th century, fine art printmakers adopted chine-colle as a creative tool rather than a reproductive convenience, using colored and textured papers to add visual elements that the plate alone could not produce.
Degas used chine-colle in his etchings of the 1870s and 1880s, taking advantage of thin paper to capture the delicate tonal passages of his monotype and etching combinations. His prints of ballet dancers and bathers show how chine-colle can soften the hard edges of intaglio lines while preserving their detail.
Redon used chine-colle in his lithographs and etchings to create the luminous, dreamlike backgrounds that characterize his work. His print Then There Appears a Singular Being, Having the Head of a Man on a Body of a Fish (1888), from The Temptation of Saint Anthony, is in MoMA's collection and demonstrates how the thin paper adds a tonal warmth behind the printed image.
Matisse used chine-colle in his etchings, including Fanny (Mme. D.G.) (1914), now in MoMA's collection. The thin paper allowed Matisse to print his sensitive, economical line drawings with a delicacy that heavy etching paper would have flattened. The chine paper adds a subtle color difference between the image area and the surrounding sheet, creating a natural frame.
Bourgeois used chine-colle in her late print series, including He Disappeared into Complete Silence (1990, reprinted 1993). The technique allowed her to combine the intimacy of small-scale etching with the textural and color possibilities of layered paper.
Puryear, known primarily as a sculptor, has used chine-colle in his prints to achieve the same sensitivity to material and surface that characterizes his three-dimensional work. His untitled chine-colle print from 2001 is in MoMA's collection.
Chine-colle is used in combination with other printmaking techniques rather than as a standalone process. It appears most frequently with etching and engraving, where the intaglio plate's fine lines benefit most from the thin paper's ability to capture detail. It is also used with lithography and with relief processes like woodcut. The technique is related to monotype, which also involves printing on a surface that transfers to paper, and to collage, though chine-colle bonds the paper during printing rather than gluing it afterward.
Prints using chine-colle are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. When you look at a print with chine-colle, tilt the sheet slightly under raking light. You will see the edge of the thin paper where it meets the backing sheet, a faint ridge that reveals the two-layer structure. The color difference between the chine paper and the backing sheet is often subtle, visible only when you look for the boundary.
For more on printmaking techniques, read our entries on etching and lithography, or explore our guide on how to read a painting to develop visual analysis skills that apply to prints as well as paintings.
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