Help learning about / aging Old London Bridge print

Hi - I recently bought a large copy of Claude de Jongh's iconic painting of Old London Bridge (1630). More about the painting here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/history-stories-kenwood/old-london-bridge/

I paid very little for it and I'm sure it's not really worth anything. However, I am curious about its age & would really like to know what type of print it is.

When I bought it I presumed it was a digital copy from perhaps the 1980s. However, when it arrived it seemed obvious that it's quite a bit older, because: 1) moderate foxing, 2) very noticeable colour fading (note how the red boat in the original appears yellow), 3) white crease marks which seem to be on the ink rather than the paper, hence indicating an older printing method (?), 4) very heavy wooden frame that would have been out of fashion in the 2nd half of the 20th century.

I'm amazed that this much detail could be faithfully reproduced in an older mass-produced print, so I'd love to know exactly what printing technique was involved & what kind of age it might be. (Am now thinking it might be c1950s, but that's pure guesswork.)

Any insights gratefully received. And I hope you agree it's a lovely picture!

 

Some kind of lithography, I would guess.

Any chance you could zoom in for a clear shot of this:

 

Thanks and sure a zoomed in pic attached. Lithography came up as being the main form of printmaking, but it confused me as the method seems to involve the entire painting being re-drawn from scratch on a stone? Which surprised me as there's one area of the clouds where you can see visible brushstrokes (that match up with the original). Difficult to show in photo but tried to capture in the attached pic.

Is it possible to make lithographic copies using the actual painted canvas as a mould of sorts? I can't see how that would work & surely it would risk damaging the painting?

 

I would guess a photolithography technique of some sort, uses a plate instead of a stone.

 

@magyarmart , if you'd like to do some deeper research on this, the Graphics Atlas website is a place to look. http://www.graphicsatlas.org/

You could click on the Identification tab, and start with the options under Photomechanical to see the different types of prints. They even show highly magnified examples of the surfaces of different types of prints. There are a lot of options, so it could take a little while.

By the way, I like your print. It seems to be very well done.

 

I agree: some type of photolithography.

In the detail shown, the print has been stressed, somehow an intense pinch at that point causing the pigment on the surface to crumble.