Thomas Bewick Bird Woodblock

This month's feature is a woodblock produced by Thomas Bewick, who is a well-known British engraver from the early 17th century. It is numbered in the Dard Hunter Collection as #742. Thomas Bewick is most recognized for his natural history book, A History of British Birds, originally published in 1797, which features his intricate wood engravings alongside his notes on various species of bird found in Britain at the time. Bewick's illustrative work is unique for being one of the first types of woodcuts to feature white-line engraving, where the white spaces of the engraving represented actual white space, introducing a greater realism to his work that didn't require shading techniques such as cross-hatching. Bewick also used a special technique in which he carefully carved some raised portions down to slightly lower heights than other areas, so that there were grey portions produced during printing rather than straight black. 

This woodblock is made from boxwood, which is much harder than the wood commonly used for woodcuts at the time. This allowed engravers to use metal-engraving tools to produce greater detail, and these types of woodblocks lasted a lot longer during printing than softer woods. This woodblock was never used in either volume of Bewick's A History of British Birds, but bears striking similarity to the illustration that was used for the Crow in his book. This piece is likely a practice piece or a rejected design for the publication. The top image shows the woodblock as it was when Bewick was carving it and when the museum acquired it, for the white brushed over the top allows the artist to view their cuts more clearly. The woodblock no longer has the white ink layer, and so an updated image is provided on the bottom.  

We hope that you enjoyed this peek at our collection! We'll be back next month with another artifact. Have a great August!