Judging Hand Colouring on Antique Prints Before You Buy

At a provincial sale a few years ago, two copies of the same 1790s botanical engraving sold twenty minutes apart. One made 45 pounds. The other made 380. Same plate, same paper, same margins. The difference was that one had been coloured by hand in the year it was printed and the other had been coloured in about 1975.

Hand colouring on antique prints is where a great deal of value hides and where many buyers are quietly misled. Very little of it is outright fraud. Most later colour was added honestly to make an uncoloured print easier to sell. But it is not original, and the market prices it accordingly. Here is how I judge it, with nothing more than a window, a loupe and some patience.

Why Hand Colouring on Antique Prints Matters So Much

Before the 1830s, almost all colour on prints was applied by hand, usually with watercolour and a brush, often by teams of colourists working from a master copy. A print issued coloured by the publisher, or coloured shortly after, is described as having "original colour" or "contemporary colour". Colour applied decades or centuries later is "later colour".

For maps, botanicals and natural history plates, original colour can multiply the value three to ten times over an uncoloured example. Later colour, by contrast, can leave a print worth less than an honest uncoloured copy, because many serious collectors would rather have the bare engraving than a modern interpretation of it.

Reading the Colour Itself

Original watercolour from the period was mixed from mineral and plant pigments. It has a particular character that is hard to fake well.

Softness and transparency. Period washes sit thinly enough that the engraved lines show clearly through them. Heavy, opaque colour that covers the linework is a warning sign.
A restrained palette. Early colourists worked with a limited set of greens, blues, ochres and rose tones. Bright turquoise, acid green or a very pure violet usually points to modern pigment.
Even ageing. Colour that has sat on paper for two hundred years tones with it. If the paper is warm and foxed but the colour is crisp and bright, the two have not aged together.

The Verdigris Test and Other Clues on the Back

Turn the print over. This is the single most useful habit I can pass on.

Many eighteenth and early nineteenth century colourists used a copper-based green called verdigris. Over time it reacts with the paper and can brown, weaken or even eat through it. On the back you often see a faint green or brown shadow exactly where green was applied on the front. Modern pigments rarely do this, and a forger cannot easily reproduce two centuries of chemical burn.

Also look for colour that has bled through to the reverse in a way that matches the paper's age, and for the light browning of the sheet that stops neatly at the edge of a washed area. Later colour sits on top of already toned paper, so the toning runs underneath it uninterrupted.

What to Look for Under the Loupe

A 10x loupe shows things the naked eye cannot. I covered the basic technique in the loupe test for old prints, but for colour specifically I check three things.

Does the colour sit over or under surface dirt? Dirt and fine scuffs that lie on top of the colour suggest it has been there a long time. Colour sitting cleanly over grime was added after the grime.
Edges of the washes. Period colourists working at speed often strayed slightly over the line. Very tight, careful colour that never crosses a line can be modern work done slowly by one person.
Cracking. Old gum arabic binders sometimes crack finely in heavy areas. Fresh acrylic or gouache does not.

Why "Looks Old" Is Not Good Enough

A lot of advice in this field says to trust your instinct and that original colour simply "looks right". I disagree with that, at least for anyone under ten years of handling. Skilled later colourists in the twentieth century studied period palettes carefully and used tea or weak washes to tone their work down. Many fooled dealers for decades.

Instinct is formed by handling hundreds of confirmed examples. Until you have done that, rely on physical evidence: verdigris on the reverse, the relationship between colour and dirt, and the consistency of toning. If none of those is present, treat the colour as later until proven otherwise, and pay for the print as if it were uncoloured.

Original, Contemporary, Later and Modern Explained

Catalogue wording matters, and it is not always consistent. This is how most reputable dealers use the terms.

Term	Usual meaning	Effect on value
Original colour	Applied by or for the publisher at issue	Highest
Contemporary colour	Applied within a few years to a generation of printing	High
Old colour	Old but of uncertain date, often nineteenth century	Moderate, depends on quality
Later colour	Added well after printing, often twentieth century	Often below uncoloured

"Old colour" is the slippery one. It sometimes means a cataloguer could not decide. Ask what the evidence was before you bid.

A good dealer will tell you plainly, and will usually point to the reverse of the sheet when they do.

Maps Are a Special Case

On antique maps, colour was often applied only to borders, coastlines or county outlines. This "outline colour" is quicker to apply and harder to judge than full wash colour. Some later colourists added full wash to maps that were originally issued in outline only, which can be checked against known issues of the atlas. If you collect county maps, the publisher and edition details explained in how to date an antique county map will tell you what colour style a given edition is likely to have had.

FAQ

Is a print with later colour worthless?

No. Well-executed later colour on a decorative print can still sell well to buyers who want it for the wall. It simply belongs in a different price bracket from original colour, and it should be described honestly.

Can later colour be removed?

Sometimes, by a paper conservator, but it is costly and not always successful. Watercolour soaks into the fibres, and removal risks damaging the print itself. It is rarely worth it on anything but a valuable plate.

Does a certificate of original colour mean anything?

Only as much as the person who wrote it. A detailed condition note from a specialist dealer who explains their reasoning is worth far more than a short certificate.

The Practical Takeaway

Turn every coloured print over before you look at the front again. Check for verdigris shadows, colour under dirt and toning that runs behind the wash. Without at least one of those signs, price the print as uncoloured and let the colour be a pleasant extra rather than the reason you paid more. The condition grades for antique maps and prints are worth reading alongside this before your next sale.