Head- or Tail-piece c. 16th century

Curator: This is a woodcut print titled "Head- or Tail-piece," by an anonymous artist, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's charming, a small, dense floral arrangement bursting from a woven basket. So simple, almost folksy. Curator: These ornaments typically marked the beginning or end of sections in books. Their production involved specialized labor, from wood preparation to carving and printing. Editor: I’m fascinated by the interplay between the supposed "high art" of the illustrated text, and the frankly functional "craft" of bookbinding. It's all part of the same commercial ecosystem. Curator: Absolutely. The prevalence of such imagery also reveals contemporary ideals about nature and domesticity, circulated to a broad reading public. Editor: And, considering this piece is anonymous, it also underlines how the vast majority of art production, even then, was collaborative and largely uncredited. It’s so telling. Curator: Indeed. Focusing on the social and material processes behind even seemingly minor works deepens our understanding of their cultural value. Editor: Precisely. It makes you consider the hands that shaped the artwork and the world that formed those hands.