An Extradordinary Animal. Neither an Opossum nor a Kangaroo but having something of both 1835

John Doyle made this lithograph, An Extraordinary Animal, sometime in the first half of the 19th century. Lithography is a printmaking technique that involves drawing on a flat stone or metal plate with a greasy substance, then applying ink to the treated surface; the ink adheres only to the areas that were drawn on, allowing for the image to be transferred to paper. In this image, the lithographic process allows for very fine, detailed linework to create a satire of Lord Brougham as a Kangaroo. The texture of the print is smooth to the touch but appears rough because of the hatch marks that indicate tone and shading. The figure is not heavily worked, and the artist has used a mix of hatched and cross-hatched lines to imbue the image with social or cultural significance. Doyle's choice of lithography makes the work feel current and topical, because printmaking allowed images to be widely distributed in newspapers and magazines and consumed by a mass audience, and it challenges our notions of what "fine art" could be at that time. By looking at materials, making, and context, we can fully understand the meaning of an artwork.