Key to Battle of Bunker's Hill 18th-19th century

Editor: Here we have Johann Gotthard Müller's "Key to Battle of Bunker's Hill," an undated drawing at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a collection of sketched faces. How would you interpret this work? Curator: It's fascinating to consider the labor involved in creating these studies. Each sketch represents time, skill, and materials. What was the social context of this piece? Was it mass-produced or exclusive? Editor: I believe it was preparatory drawings, not mass produced. Curator: Then let's consider Müller's position in the art world. How did the materials and techniques employed reflect the economic and social forces at play? What does the medium itself, drawing, tell us about artistic production at the time? Editor: I never thought about it that way. Seeing it as a product of its time and place. Thanks.