Ringling Bros Poster w/Litho in usa real or repro

I looked up Ringling Bros circus posters and found early ones have a letter & numver (like L 7) and later ones from the 1930s - 1950s have litho in usa like mine, & copies have to say Reproduction?
But the condition on mine is so good - is there a way to tell if mine is a real 30's - 50's or a reproduction?
It measures 35.5 x 24
Thank you

 

Here's an original for comparison.

https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:vd66w065f

Debora

 

Does the frame have glass or plastic as a cover? If it is a cheaper style light weight frame with plastic, I'm going to guess this is a modern repro.

 

Ditto. The original has printers name on the right under image.

Debora

 

Aagghh!
Thanks - in was pretty sure I had a 40s or 50s because the copies I read had Reproduction where Litho in usa is.
Thank you guys
PS , any idea of its age? 70s - 80s? Or hopefully not 2000's? lol
Thanks again

 

Yes it is....sigh lol

 

If the frame's orange, 1960s/1970s. If it's red, 1980s. (Can't tell from your photograph.)

Debora

 

In the closeup of yr poster you have a red 'G'-the printing pattern is called a 'dot matrix' pattern,done long after the original lithograph poster was printed.It's created from a photo of the orig poster.
Here's a closeup of this more modern dot pattern (that most all repros have)-see the criss-cross pattern ?
The B&W piece below it is a real 19th century lithograph-it's got a more organic grain to the printing pattern.

 

When did they stop dot matrix?

 

Dot matrix is a specific type of impact printing with a very limited color selection (typically you only see dot matrix in a single color). Y'all will probably best remember dot matrix printers as the type that printed one color blocky characters on large fan-fold sheets that had those really satisfying perforated holes you got to remove. Technically, they still exist but usually for things like ticket printing. They do use dots to print (from the impact wires), but...

I think the term bosko meant was halftone. Halftone printing uses optical color mixing by breaking prints down in color through dots on screens or in digital bitmap processes. It is still the primary printing process used today.

That's why I said you gotta keep a loupe with you and inspect every piece you're going to buy! If you see halftone dots, it's a mass produced process and generally worth less.

If you see solid color and no dots then you have an original piece or you have a higher-end print process like screen printing, block printing, etching, etc. which are considered niche fine art processes now because they take more time and mastery to accomplish. Those are usually worth more. All the high-end modern prints I own are done in those processes. Halftone means mass production, cheaply, and the worth will usually reflect that. I have some of those too from smaller artists, but the resell value is nil.

Of course halftone has been around since the 1880s or so, and people will collect certain antique prints, posters, etc. Circus stuff is a good one. So lens is a great start if you see something you know has a collector niche. But yeah reproductions are every where. I wouldn't mess with poster collecting without doing a deep dive myself.

 

Thank you - Great info!

 

Good point Miranda-Here's what our AI friends had to say:'A "dot matrix" refers to a pattern of dots arranged in a grid, often used to represent characters or images on a display, while a "halftone" is a printing technique that uses varying sizes of dots to create the illusion of continuous tones, like shades of gray, by manipulating the dot pattern to simulate different levels of darkness;essentially, a dot matrix can be a component of a halftone image, but not all dot matrices are halftones.'
This info could save you thousands of dollars Journey.You could also hit a few of the larger Orlando antique malls and ask to see some samples-with your avid interest in accumulating art/graphics it'd be worth the gas money.

 

AI is a content stealing reguritation app with no sources and I don't mess with it.

Dot matrix printing refers to a specific type of low res printing that is not what your above example is. Most all printing with dots on posters you'll run into are from halftone process. Whatever the term, I fully agree with your helpful examples because it's exactly what needs to be looked for. If you don't have a loupe, I bet zooming in close on your phone camera app would give it away like what you pointed out in his photo.

I also agree with a market research outing! It's surprising how many old looking pieces were produced by halftone and geniune antique pieces look different in halftone than modern ones. Only way to get good is to see a bunch!