Stories, records, and notes from the world of printmaking.
Opportunities to acquire a genuine Wharfedale press are few and far between, making the sale of this fine example from the workshop of Justin Knopp of Typoretum particularly noteworthy. Justin acquired the press in 2004 from David Esslemont, whose workshop was then based in mid-Wales. Over the past two decades the press has been used […]
Among the various parts of an etching press, few are more important, or more often taken for granted, than the blankets. They sit in place doing their work day after day, and it is usually only when they begin to stiffen, mark, or behave less evenly that they receive much attention. The condition of the […]
In the rarefied world of hand-printed wallpapers there is no bigger name than Marthe Armitage. Starting in the 1960s, she hand cuts all her designs onto lino and these original blocks are still in use nearly sixty years later. Throughout this period all her wallpaper has been produced on a hand-cranked offset lithography press which […]
On Monday 1st July 2024, Patrick Roe and Guy Brudenell of AMR Logan Press delivered an Arab letterpress machine to a film location in Luton. The press was to appear in Outrageous, the television drama based on the Mitford sisters and their political entanglements during the 1930s. The machine itself had been chosen with care. […]
In the history of British printmaking there are certain figures whose influence far outweighs the number of times their names appear in print. Chris Holladay was one of them. To many printmakers, technicians and studio founders from the 1970s onwards, Holladay was simply the man you called when a press needed moving, rebuilding, installing or […]
On Monday 20th October 2025, Patrick Roe and Simon Hollin drove to Kingston upon Thames to collect a Polymetaal JPV80 etching press for delivery to Kentish Town. The destination was a well-established photographic studio — committed to traditional processes and now looking to expand into intaglio printmaking with the addition of a large etching press. […]
We can’t quite bring ourselves to be all over Instagram, it’s just not us. But we would like to remind everyone that we are still very much alive and kicking. We can undertake every job from relocating a whole university department to replacing one small bolt on a press and all the jobs in between. […]
Transporting heavy printmaking equipment requires careful planning and specialist handling. These machines are often extremely heavy and sensitive to damage. The process begins with an assessment of the equipment and the site. This includes identifying access points, potential obstacles, and any structural considerations. Dismantling may be required to reduce weight and allow safe transport. Each […]
On Tuesday 31st March 2026 I drove to Kidlington, just north of Oxford, to carry out a valuation. The request was a familiar one. A house inherited, a studio tucked away in the garden, and inside it — something substantial, clearly important, but entirely unknown to its new owners. They needed a valuation for probate, […]
