Decalcomania

Decalcomania, from the French décalcomanie, is a decorative technique by which engravings and prints may be transferred to pottery or other materials. Today, the shortened version is "Decal".

It was invented in England about 1750 and imported into the United States at least as early as 1865. Its invention has been attributed to Simon François Ravenet, an engraver from France who later moved to England and perfected the process, which he called "décalquer" (derived from French papier de calque, "tracing paper"). The first known use of the French term décalcomanie, in Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Eleanor's Victory (1863), was followed by the English decalcomania in an 1865 trade show catalog (The Tenth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association); it was popularized during the ceramic transfer craze of the mid-1870s. By c 1875 decalcomania designs printed in colored glazes were being applied to porcelain, an extension of transfer-printing, which had been developed in England since the late 18th century. The decalcomania was applied over an already-glazed surface and re-fired. The process began to be mechanized from the turn of the 20th century.

The surrealist Oscar Domínguez (referring to his work as "decalcomania with no preconceived object") took up the technique in 1936, using gouache spread thinly on a sheet of paper or other surface (glass has been used), which is then pressed onto another surface such as a canvas. Dominguez used black gouache, though colours later made their appearance.

German artist Max Ernst also practised decalcomania, as did Hans Bellmer and Remedios Varo.

...
Wikipedia