A Country Store – Getting Weighed
Original title: A Country Store – Getting Weighed (Every Saturday, Vol. II, New Series)
kurzbeschreibung
Dated March 25, 1871, Winslow Homer's wood engraving A Country Store – Weighing takes viewers into a rural shop: women in long dresses and hats queue while a man behind the counter weighs goods. The subject belongs to the everyday village culture of the late nineteenth century.
Description
In the foreground, several women in elaborate, floor-length dresses and hats crowd together, waiting as the seller behind the counter adjusts weights. Their eyes are fixed on his hands. Behind them, shelves filled with brushes, boxes, and price tags occupy the space. The image remains black and white, with dense lines and even brightness that casts few shadows.
Context
This wood engraving was made for the magazine Every Saturday as part of a new series exploring rural life in the United States. In 1871, when wood engravings were the standard means of mass reproduction, Homer was still working as an illustrator before turning to painting. The country store appears here as a social gathering place where shopping becomes a communal event.
Impact
The print feels calm and almost documentary: the lined-up women and the focused man create an everyday tension that draws the eye into the depth of the store. Splendid dresses meet plain shelves, a contrast that underlines the social importance of shopping. Even light and fine lines reinforce the matter-of-fact impression.
Technique
A wood engraving, in which the motif is cut into a woodblock, serves for reproduction in magazines. The hatching and tonal gradations are created by precise cuts. The sheet measures 26.1 x 37 cm, the plate 23.1 x 30.5 cm—dimensions typical for illustration prints of the period.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)