Sweet, piercing sweet was the music of Pan's pipe 

Walter Crane rendered this illustration with watercolor and ink, likely as an editioned print. He would have been interested in the aesthetic possibilities afforded by mass production and distribution, the Arts and Crafts movement having critiqued the rise of mechanization and industrial production. The character of Pan is carefully described: the reeds of his instrument are delicately picked out; the fur of his goat legs convincingly textured. Crane was an admirer of the artist William Morris, who had similarly revived handcraft techniques like woodblock printing and patterned textiles. The composition and subject matter were intended to evoke an earlier, ‘purer’ time. The figures are elegant and languid. The setting is idyllic and arcadian, as befitting Pan, the god of nature. However, Crane also shows awareness of the labor involved in the production process, and imbues the character and setting with social and cultural significance, emphasizing the importance of the hand-made. Understanding Crane’s world, in which making was seen as a source of value beyond the aesthetic, we can appreciate his work all the more.