Portrait of a Man in an Armchair, from Collection d'imitations de Dessins d'après les Principaux Maîtres Hollandais et Flamands1826

A work made of soft ground etching, hard ground etching, aquatint, and roulette, printed from two plates in red-brown and black, on ivory laid paper.

Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Christian Josi made this in 1826. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

How it was made

Aquatint

Resin dust is fused to the plate and bitten with acid, so the plate prints areas of tone, like a wash, rather than lines.

Etching

The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.

Laid paper

Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.