Typographic Ornaments (page 1/2)

See all the images…

stock block: Terrier woodcut

This woodcut of a Scottish cairn terrier, or similar dog, is an example of a stock block (or stock cut): an illustraiton sold to printers on a stereotyped copy of [...] [more...]

Stock block: deer skull

This vintage woodcut of a deer skull looks almost like a Cthulhu monster or the “Kraken”. [more...]

stock block: Young male servant carrying a boar’s head

This young man carries a platter of food: a roasted pig’s head with fruit or vegetables around it, on a platter. He wears a ruff round his neck, a tunic over a long-sleeved shirt, and simple shoes; presumably he also wears hose, or tights. He carries the platter level with his face. The image is circular and the space that itsn’t the food or the youth [...] [more...]

Chapterheads with cherubs, dragons, fish, neptune, flowers

Three separate chapterheads: one with two cherubs, or naked boys, each holding one end of a rope, or a pipe with a bulb on the end, perhaps about to squirt some giant flowers; one with a Greek male head (possibly neptune) in a circle with large fish all round; one with two dragons or wyverns having the [...] [more...]

Index, manicule, or pointing hand

Drawings of hands, often with arms attached, were added to mediæval manuscripts by people who used them; the hands were used to draw attention to particular passages of interest. [more...]