Gezicht op Castle Howard te Yorkshire 1758

This print showing Castle Howard in Yorkshire was made by Robert Sayer in the 18th century. It's an engraving, printed on paper; a relatively inexpensive format, perfect for circulating views of important buildings like this one. Look closely, and you can see how the lines create the image; each one carefully etched to define the architecture. The colors would have been added later, by hand, a process that brings an element of uniqueness to each impression. Prints like these, weren’t just about art. They were about advertising wealth and power. They demonstrate the rise of consumer society at this time, and a growing interest in design among the middle classes. This was a period of intense labor, both in the skilled work of engraving and printing and the manual work involved in building estates like Castle Howard. Considering this print as a crafted object helps us think about the wider social context, and how images shape our perceptions of class and labor.