n ish ▁which ▁were ▁then ▁sand ed ▁to ▁a ▁pol ished ▁finish . ▁ ▁Three ▁dimensional ▁dec oup age ▁( s ometimes ▁also ▁referred ▁to ▁simply ▁as ▁dec oup age ) ▁is ▁the ▁art ▁of ▁creating ▁a ▁three - dimensional ▁( 3 D ) ▁image ▁by ▁cutting ▁out ▁elements ▁of ▁varying ▁sizes ▁from ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁identical ▁images ▁and ▁layer ing ▁them ▁on ▁top ▁of ▁each ▁other , ▁usually ▁with ▁ad hes ive ▁fo am ▁spac ers ▁between ▁each ▁layer ▁to ▁give ▁the ▁image ▁more ▁depth . ▁ ▁Py ram id ▁dec oup age ▁( also ▁called ▁py ram age ) ▁is ▁a ▁process ▁similar ▁to ▁ 3 D ▁dec oup age . ▁In ▁py ram id ▁dec oup age , ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁identical ▁images ▁are ▁cut ▁into ▁progress ively ▁smaller , ▁identical ▁shapes ▁which ▁are ▁layer ed ▁and ▁fixed ▁with ▁ad hes ive ▁fo am ▁spac ers ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁ 3 D ▁" py ram id " ▁effect . ▁ ▁Orig ins ▁ ▁The ▁word ▁dec oup age ▁comes ▁from ▁Middle ▁French ▁" dec ou per ", ▁meaning ▁to ▁cut ▁out ▁or ▁cut ▁from ▁something . ▁ ▁The ▁origin ▁of ▁dec oup age ▁is ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁East ▁Si ber ian ▁tomb ▁art . ▁Nom adic ▁tribes ▁used ▁cut ▁out ▁fel ts ▁to ▁decor ate ▁the ▁tomb s ▁of ▁their ▁dece ased . ▁From ▁Si ber ia , ▁the ▁practice ▁came ▁to ▁China , ▁and ▁by ▁the ▁ 1 2 th ▁century , ▁cut ▁out ▁paper ▁was ▁being ▁used ▁to