Richard Earlom (1743–1822), one of the pre-eminent mezzotinters of his time, made this image to reproduce a painted portrait by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). The portrait shows the full range of tone, from the dark velvety black of the lady’s dress to the white of the lace sleeves. In the background the buildings and trees are barely visible on the plate itself but show up strongly in the print, demonstrating how much ink can be held by the burr brought up in the process.
The engraver, or more likely an apprentice, rocked a toothed tool repeatedly in different directions over the entire surface of the plate to create pits and bring up metal burr. When inked like this the plate printed a deep velvety black. To create a tonal image, the engraver burnished away the burr; the more burnished the line, the white it would print. Under a magnifying glass the grey tones sometimes reveal the criss-crossing effect of the rocker. The process, though laborious, allowed an image to be built up in tone rather than line. Mezzotints were expensive because the plates could only make around 200 impressions before the burr wore out or was compressed by the roller press – and only the first 10 or 20 would be of good quality.