Sneeuwwitje c. 1889 - 1906

This is a print titled ‘Sneeuwwitje,’ or Snow White, and it was made by the successors to Charles Burckhardt. Printed images like this were made using a relief process, where ink sits on the high points of a carved block. This is a relatively inexpensive method, capable of producing many copies. It’s a technology deeply interwoven with the rise of mass media and distribution of content to a wider audience. The format is interesting here – a sequence of images that tell a story. You might think of it like a storyboard for a film, or a proto-comic strip. It’s easy to imagine how prints like this were circulated widely, perhaps even included with other products as a kind of added value. This speaks to the growth of consumer culture and the ability to efficiently reproduce and disseminate visual narratives, creating shared cultural touchstones across a population. The material, in this case, becomes a vehicle for storytelling and social connection. The image becomes part of the cultural imagination.