Engraving Burin
19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Typically engravers use burins with a diamond or lozenge shaped profile to incise their designs into metal. The action of engraving with a burin creates a tapered line, which swells in the middle. The shavings of metal that are brought up are scraped or burnished off before printing.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood, metal alloy and steel. |
| Brief description | Long engraver's burin used by Samuel Palmer, wood, metal alloy and steel, third quarter 19th century, possibly made by Donaldson. |
| Physical description | Etching needle (tool) with a sharp point, as used by Samuel Palmer. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | (Incorrectly numbered on the handle as E.459-1953.) |
| Credit line | Presented by A. H. Palmer, Esq. |
| Object history | In 1850, at the age of forty-five, Samuel Palmer took up etching. The artist's son, A. H. Palmer, gave the tools to three people: Sir Frank Short, Martin Hardie, and F.L. Griggs. Hardie and Short each donated two of Palmer's etching tools to the V&A museum. In a note sent to Martin Hardie in 1923 A. H. Palmer recalled that the tools with 'German silver fittings were made by one Donaldson, in industrious, between bibulous, intervals - a noted man at his craft'. |
| Summary | Typically engravers use burins with a diamond or lozenge shaped profile to incise their designs into metal. The action of engraving with a burin creates a tapered line, which swells in the middle. The shavings of metal that are brought up are scraped or burnished off before printing. |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.3980-1923 |
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| Record created | August 3, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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