Simonau, [Gustave] & Toovey, [William]

Identity

Category

Partnership

Alternative name or descriptor

  • Atelier de Photolithographie

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Status

  • Connected

Details

Life dates

Activity

1860 - 1870 / Bruxelles, Rue de la Pompe, 3
Successor: Simonau Veuve & Toovey
Gustave Simonau (° Bruges, 10.6.1810; + Brussels, 10.7.1870), water colour painter and lithographer, trained in the studio of his father, Pierre Simonau. Husband of Ann(e) Toovey (° Canterbury [GB], 13.6.1820; ° ? [GB], 1895), lithographer and William's sister. It was William Toovey (see that name), born into a family of engravers and printers, who was the driving force behind the photomechanical side of the establishment.
Transfer on 31.12.1860 to Simonau & Toovey of rights to Eduard Isaac Asser's patent for "a process for printing photographic positives, either in autographic ink or in printing ink" [photolithography]. Patent of invention of 1.7.1863 [in the name of William Toovey] for "improvements in the processes of photolithography, photozincography and photographic engraving" [improved Asser process]. The photolithographs which the firm went on to produce as illustrations for books and periodicals were amongst the finest photomechanical half-tone prints marketed in Europe in the 1860s.
Transfer to Simonau & Toovey on 5.11.1869 of the rights to W. B. Woodbury's import and improvement patents of 28.3.1865 for "a method for producing relief surfaces by means of photography", enabling the firm to exploit the Woodburytype process.

Locations

1860 - 1870 / Bruxelles, Rue de la Pompe, 3

Exhibitions

Brussels, 1853; Brussels, 1856; Brussels, 1861 (photolithography and chromolithography; medal); Paris, 1861; Paris, 1863; Paris, 1864; Brussels, 1867; Paris, 1867 (bronze medal).

Genres / subject matter

Techniques

Bibliography/Webography

VALCKE, Sibylle. "Simonau Gustave" in "Le Dictionnaire des peintres Belges du XIVe siècle à nos jours", La Renaissance du Livre, vol. 2, 1994, p. 902.
JOSEPH, Steven F. "Simonau & Toovey: The Introduction of Photomechanical Printing to Belgium, 1860-1873" in "European Society for the History of Photography. Jubilee – 30 Years ESHPh. Congress of Photography in Vienna", edited by Anna Auer and Uwe Schögl. Salzburg, Fotohof edition, 2008, pp. 150-159.
MEUNIER, Laurence. "Les imprimeurs-lithographes Simonau & Toovey" in "Le livre illustré en Belgique 1800-1865", edited by Claude Sorgeloos, In Monte Artium: Journal of the Royal Library of Belgium, vol. 7, 2014, pp. 37-56.

Context

Affiliations

Management

Record source

DIRECTORY_1997#3883

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation/revision

SFJ revised 23.1.2017; SFJ revised 16.3.2022 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; MD revised 18.10.2022 & 16.10.2024

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Script(s)

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