AROUND HOME : Decoupage

AT FIRST GLANCE,most decoupage looks like schoolroom art for Mother’s Day. Paper or foil cutouts are pasted on a surface in a “decorative arrangement” and shellacked in place.

At second glance--preferably in a book that deals with the early history of this French art--decoupage is revealed in its intricate, stunning beauty. It was not always trays and lunch boxes; in the beginning there were tables, chairs, chests of drawers, screens and cradles, all beautiful enough to furnish a palace. And if a particular cutout was not everything that was needed for a desired effect, the artist added paint or watercolors, shadowing and enhancing the pasted-on pieces.

In spite of its French name, decoupage reached its zenith in 18th-Century Italy as the arte povero , or poor man’s art, designed to look like Oriental lacquer work; large pieces of furniture were almost covered with cutouts. Scrapbooks printed with pictures meant for decoupage were widely available until the 20th Century. National distinctions, based on the colors and kinds of papers used, became evident: earth tones in Sweden, bright colors in Sicily.

Today’s decoupeurs often use pictures from magazines, greeting cards and wrapping papers, which may explain why the craft has survived: The materials are inexpensive and accessible and require glue and acrylic spray (as a varnish) to anchor the cutouts.

Currently available books, from Dover Publications, are “The Picture Sourcebook for Collage and Decoupage,” by Edmund Gillon, and “The Cornucopia of Design & Illustration for Decoupage,” by Eleanor Rawlings. Order through your local bookstore or directly from Dover Publications Inc., 31 E. 2nd St., Mineola, N.Y. 11501.