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The Valley of the Rocks, near Linton, Devonshire.

Print
1830 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is an etching on steel by Joseph Wilson Lowry (1803–79). Steel was used commercially from about 1830. It could print much larger editions than works on copper plates and also printed finer lines, producing a greyer tonal image. It is difficult to judge whether something is printed from a copper or steel plate, but occasionally there are clues. Here, for example, the grey tone and extremely fine and shallow lines are suggestive of steel.
The artist may have used a multi-tool to shade the sky, because it is composed of regular and closely spaced parallel lines. The rock formations, meanwhile, show off etching as a drawn technique. The rocks are so lightly sketched in places they appear almost as a series of dotted lines. The plate was etched in more than one biting, whereby it was stopped out in places where it was deemed to have been bitten deep enough, and re-etched to produce deeper lines that would hold more ink and consequently print darker. This double-biting is shown most clearly in the clouds, where a single line becomes seamlessly thicker, and thinner again, in places.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Valley of the Rocks, near Linton, Devonshire. (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Steel engraving
Brief description
Steel engraving by Joseph Wilson Lowry from a study by Thomas Allom. Valley of the Rocks, Linton, Devon, printed for the series Devonshire Illustrated, London, 1828-1832.
Physical description
A rocky valley
Dimensions
  • Height: 12.5cm
  • Width: 21.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • THE VALLEY OF THE ROCKS, NEAR LINTON, DEVONSHIRE. (Lower centre)
  • T.Allom. (Lower left)
  • J. Lowry. (Lower right)
Credit line
Given by Dr. G. B. Gardner
Subject depicted
Place depicted
Summary
This is an etching on steel by Joseph Wilson Lowry (1803–79). Steel was used commercially from about 1830. It could print much larger editions than works on copper plates and also printed finer lines, producing a greyer tonal image. It is difficult to judge whether something is printed from a copper or steel plate, but occasionally there are clues. Here, for example, the grey tone and extremely fine and shallow lines are suggestive of steel.
The artist may have used a multi-tool to shade the sky, because it is composed of regular and closely spaced parallel lines. The rock formations, meanwhile, show off etching as a drawn technique. The rocks are so lightly sketched in places they appear almost as a series of dotted lines. The plate was etched in more than one biting, whereby it was stopped out in places where it was deemed to have been bitten deep enough, and re-etched to produce deeper lines that would hold more ink and consequently print darker. This double-biting is shown most clearly in the clouds, where a single line becomes seamlessly thicker, and thinner again, in places.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1945, London: HMSO, 1956.
Collection
Accession number
E.1025-1945

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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