Screen prints are made with an art technique that dates all the way back to the 960-1279 Chinese Song Dynasty. The process involves using a silk screen (hence the alternate term, silk-screening) to impart images upon a canvas, and the craft eventually gained interest throughout Europe in the 18th century. Samuel Simon recognized the medium's potential for producing advertising materials, and he established a 1907 patent for its use in England. Thereafter, artists realized that screen-printing could be utilized to inexpensively mass-produce and promote their works.