Man met een boek en tulband 1760 - 1762

Thomas Frye created this mezzotint, "Man with a Book and Turban," using a copper plate, sometime in the mid-18th century. Mezzotint is an intaglio printmaking process that relies on the roughening of the plate with a tool called a rocker, before selectively burnishing areas to create smooth highlights. This labor-intensive technique allows for rich tonal gradations. But it’s important to remember that this "Man" wasn’t drawn so much as manufactured. Frye actually ran a porcelain factory at Bow, near London. The factory employed many people, and the division of labor would have been significant: some workers digging clay from the earth, others mixing the materials, still others forming the pots, painting them, firing them, and finally selling the wares. Frye's print speaks of his experience in such organized production. It reminds us of the material basis of culture, and that artists, like all makers, are embedded in a broader economic reality.