Barking Timber in Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire 1818

Joshua Cristall made this watercolor, titled "Barking Timber in Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire", sometime in the first half of the 19th century. Cristall's picturesque scene offers us a window into the rural economy of early 19th century England. “Barking timber” refers to the process of stripping bark from trees, used in tanning leather. Cristall focuses on the figures involved in this work, their clothing and activities, and their relationship to the landscape. Consider what the artist chooses to show us, and what he leaves out. We are given a sense of the labor involved in this process, but we don’t see, for example, any of the darker sides of rural poverty and land enclosure. Art historical research can reveal so much about this image, from the history of watercolor painting to the economic and environmental history of the Wychwood Forest, and the social history of forestry.