Decorative ornament (29) - Italy - Typographic Letters

Vintage wooden printing blocks, commonly used for traditional typography.

Material and Use: made of hard wood, these blocks were carved with mirrored letters or numbers to print large headlines on newspapers, posters, and placards.
Characteristics: The blocks are arranged to show the mirrored nature of the characters needed for relief printing.
Condition: They show signs of wear, residual ink, and a patina that attest to their historical use in the typographic printing process.
The vintage wooden typefaces were produced almost exclusively with slow-growing, very fine-grained hardwood, cut end-grain to withstand the enormous pressures of the press and the moisture of the ink.
The blocks in the photo display the typical dark surface coloration due to the layering of greasy typographic inks and protective oils applied over the decades.
The letters are 16 cm tall and have a thickness of 2.5 cm.
Width varies depending on the letter, but most are 6 cm.