Two Chinese Pigs 

Curator: Welcome. Here we have Samuel Howitt's "Two Chinese Pigs," a drawing rendered in pencil. Editor: My first impression is of the deliberate rendering of texture. The pencil work really brings out the almost palpable sense of the animal’s bulk and even the coarseness of their bristly coats. Curator: Indeed. Howitt's subtle shading is doing crucial work here. Note how the variance in tone helps us to read their forms and delineate figure from ground, a strategy found in traditional landscapes to convey spatial depth on a two-dimensional plane. Editor: But why pigs? Pigs as subject matter… They certainly don’t carry the heroic weight of lions, the pastoral serenity of sheep, nor even the banality of everyday domestic fowl. Is there some specific cultural association with Chinese pigs? Curator: Ah, a most astute question. These "Chinese Pigs," or what we might today term the Chinese Meishan breed, were, in fact, highly prized for their fecundity. That means their ability to produce numerous offspring and for the quality of their meat. To render them in this way suggests not just objective observation but a subtle celebration of the agricultural advancements taking place at the time. Editor: So they become almost like symbols of agricultural success and perhaps, even by extension, colonial ambition? A record not just of the natural world, but of humankind’s intervention and… domination, perhaps? The figures almost read like an anthropological field study… the specimens frozen on the page. Curator: A perceptive assessment. Furthermore, let's return to the artist’s method. Howitt employed pencil marks of varying densities and directional strokes to simulate not just the look, but the very feeling of skin, bone, and muscle… It adds layers of meaning. Editor: It makes you consider the economic realities, even… what these creatures mean in the larger context of society. I’d previously glossed over pigs… almost an unconscious aversion? Curator: One can see that Howitt encourages an elevated view. He transformed humble animals into figures deserving of both scrutiny and appreciation. Editor: It prompts us to see things from an unusual angle. Even seemingly simple images like these carry complex cultural coding that has a great effect on shaping our interpretations. Thank you.