"I saw a smith stand with his hammer thus..." (Shakespeare, King John, Act 4, Scene 4) 1771

Curator: This engraving by Richard Houston, made in 1771, is titled "I saw a smith stand with his hammer thus..." after a line from Shakespeare’s King John. Editor: The expressions are remarkable, especially the wide-eyed shock on the smith's face. What's caught his attention? It feels almost theatrical. Curator: It’s more than theatrical; it’s a study in labor. Look at the setting, the rough tools, the heavy anvil. This isn’t some romantic vision of a blacksmith; it’s the grit of industrial England. The men around the smith—they’re not courtiers. Editor: Right. You can practically smell the coal smoke. But there's something almost absurd about it. He’s right there with the hammer in his hand, but is so disturbed by the person who came to visit that he can't even use it! It makes you wonder if he needs more vacation time, and less surprise visits? Curator: Vacation, yes, or perhaps better management of materials? I think that what they produce must be delivered urgently, otherwise that tension will spread everywhere, creating discomfort and potentially defective materials... The sweat of their work, quite literal. Editor: You see the anxiety around production, and I’m fixated on the almost dreamlike quality of the light. It softens what might otherwise be harsh, the unforgiving setting making everyone seem a bit ghostly. Curator: It softens, yes, but it also spotlights labor, rendering it visible. The means of producing—in 18th-century England—were everything. Editor: So, in effect, Houston transforms King John into a commentary on labor practices? Curator: It’s a genre painting. This is History meeting working life. And let’s not forget the materials: paper, ink, the engraver's tools all coming together in someone’s home or workshop to communicate this important message. Editor: The human element gets amplified by that attention to materiality. It all gives you an idea, to the observer, that he’s also implicated in the dynamics depicted, don't you think? Curator: Precisely. We see, we reflect, and perhaps we rethink the foundations upon which products are made... even works of art!