Meisje in een raamkozijn 1826 - 1840

William Colley Wrankmore made this print, titled 'Girl in a Window Frame', sometime in the 19th century. It's made using a technique called steel engraving, which involves incising an image onto a polished steel plate, and then using this as a matrix to print multiple copies. Consider the labor involved in creating this image. The engraver would have used specialized tools to carve the fine lines that create the image. This was a highly skilled and time-consuming process, requiring years of training. Steel engraving was an industrial process, allowing for the mass production of images. The final print would have been relatively inexpensive, and available to a wide audience. Looking at the print, note how the fine lines create a sense of depth and detail, bringing the image of the girl to life. The steel engraving process was well-suited to capturing the textures of the girl's clothing and the surrounding foliage. Understanding the material and the making process allows us to consider this print within the context of 19th-century industrial production.