Portret van Abdülmecit I, sultan van het Ottomaanse Rijk Possibly 1854

Jean Auguste Marc created this print of Abdülmecit I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, using a technique called engraving. A copper or wood plate would have been painstakingly carved to create this portrait. Engraving like this demanded highly skilled labor, part of a reproductive industry that brought images to a wide public. Its success was predicated on precision, and repetition, so the artist would have relied on the division of labor to maximize throughput. Think about all the skilled labor needed: the artists, metal workers, printers, and distributors involved in the production. The use of engraving here tells us about the economics of image-making at the time. It suggests that while the Sultan himself may have been out of reach for most people, his image could be circulated widely, a tangible piece of a vast empire. The print straddles the line between art and commodity, reminding us that all art objects are also products of labor and industry.