Songs of Experience: The Clod & the Pebble
Original title: Songs of Experience: The Clod & the Pebble
kurzbeschreibung
A flock of sheep in a pastoral landscape accompanies a text panel and botanical and animal illustrations in this print from William Blake's Songs of Experience. The sheet, known as 'The Clod & the Pebble', dates from around 1825 and is a relief etching printed in orange-brown ink, hand-colored with watercolor and shell gold.
Description
Sheep in pale pink, beige and dark brown graze on a meadow in the upper part of the image; behind them stand trees under a cloudy sky. The lower third holds a text panel with the title and two poems in orange lettering, surrounded by a pair of ducks, a frog, a bird and leaves. A green border of foliage and tendrils encloses the arrangement. Warm, earthy tones contrast with the light background.
Context
Blake first published Songs of Experience in 1794 as a counterpart to Songs of Innocence of 1789. This copy was made around 1825 as part of a later edition that Blake printed for his friend and patron Thomas Butts. In the poem, selfless love (the clod) and selfish possessiveness (the pebble) stand opposed.
Impact
Delicate watercolor washes and bold outlines give the sheet a dreamlike, almost naive air. The idyllic flock and the ornamental frame meet the moral density of the poem and evoke a reflective mood. Golden accents highlight individual areas and emphasize the handmade character.
Technique
For relief etching, Blake applied the drawing acid-resist to the plate and etched away the background. Printing was done in orange-brown; afterwards he colored the impressions by hand with watercolors and shell gold (a gold paint made from gold leaf). In this way, text and image could be tightly integrated on a single plate.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)