Portret van John Hill 1757 - 1775

This print of John Hill was made by Richard Houston, likely sometime in the mid-18th century, using a technique called mezzotint. Mezzotint is a laborious process. The printmaker roughens the entire plate with a tool called a rocker, creating a dense field of burrs that would print as solid black. Then, working from dark to light, they gradually smooth out areas to create lighter tones. The more the plate is smoothed, the less ink it holds, resulting in lighter shades of grey. Look closely, and you can see how Houston coaxed subtle variations in tone from the plate, capturing the texture of Hill's velvet jacket and the soft glow of his face. Because the process is so labor intensive, mezzotint lent itself well to the division of labor. Often one person would prepare the plate, and another would create the image. Considered in this way, the print embodies the very economic conditions of its making, dependent on both craft skill and a proto-industrial system of production. By appreciating these material and social factors, we can expand our understanding of the image itself, and how it came to be.