Trade Card for W. Sears, Wood Engraver 1824

This 1824 trade card, created by an anonymous artist, advertises the services of W. Sears, a wood engraver in London. The intricate design features a woman seated amongst various tools and objects associated with printing, including a printing press, a globe, and an inkwell. The image emphasizes the quality and detail achievable with wood engraving, suggesting that Sears’s work could rival or even surpass the quality of copperplate engraving. This trade card, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a testament to the burgeoning printing industry of the early 19th century and the artistry employed in promoting it.