Metalcut

It was almost entirely restricted to the period from about 1450 to 1540, and mostly to the region around the Rhine in Northern Europe, the Low Countries, Germany, France and Switzerland; the technique perhaps originated in the area around Cologne.

There was a late flowering of the original method around 1500 in France, with a series of lavish Books of Hours.

In the sixteenth century the technique continued to be used for elaborate borders and initial letters in books, [2] notably by Jacob Faber, who often used designs by Hans Holbein the Younger.

These might be dots, circles, lozenges, stars, letters making text inscriptions, or more complicated shapes for the borders.

[4] Compared to contemporary engravings and woodcuts, they were usually large, as the technique needed space on the plate.