General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal plate on wood block

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

10.0 cm

Width

5.0 cm

Height

2.4 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Printing

Category

Image carriers

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Federal

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

Unknown

Canada

A printing plate from a collection used by the les Soeurs de la Charité de Montreal, the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Soeurs Grises/Grey Nuns) to print images for prayer books, albums, souvenirs etc. They include ornaments and other simple line engravings, devotional and historical scenes, portraits and images depicting convent life and its various charitable activities [e.g. a broom making workshop for the blind]. The order was established by Mme Marguerite d'Youville in Montreal in 1737 to serve to poor and sick. The Grey Nuns run hospitals, orphanages, schools, homes for the aged, institutions for the blind, and other social services and works of charity in various parts of Canada and the United States. D'Youville was officially recognized as a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1990. L'Institut Nazareth is a co-educational school for blind children, founded in 1862 in Montreal by Benjamin-Victor Rousselot and the Grey Nuns. Music was a part of the general curriculum from the outset. The newspapers of the time describe annual concerts which introduced both first-rate performing talents and important new works to the Montreal public and a choir whose reputation led to tours of the province. Many considered the school the earliest conservatory in Montreal. The Institut Nazareth merged with the Institut Louis-Braille in June 1975, continuing thereafter as the Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille, located in Longueuil, Quebec [Refs. 1-4].

Function

Used in a printing press to transfer an image to paper using ink

Technical

An item from a collection of zinc engravings and/or copper electrotypes mounted on wood blocks. These technologies, both relying on photographic transfer of images to a printing surface, were developed and perfected between 1860 and 1890. They were the principle methods of producing images in letterpress printing and survived until the demise of the letterpress in most commercial applications a hundred years later.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

handwriting on back reads 'SRS GRISES/ 1190 rue Guy/ Montréal' and '#14'/ checkmark logo and lettering reading 'FEDERAL' stamped into wood on side

Missing

appears complete

Finish

unfinished wood/ brown plate

Decoration

photograph of building