Thanksgiving Day – Ways and Means
Original title: Thanksgiving Day – Ways and Means (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. II)
kurzbeschreibung
For the November 1858 issue of Harper's Weekly, Winslow Homer engraved this woodcut, which splits Thanksgiving Day into two episodes: above, a crowd with a vegetable cart; below, an arrival at a snow-covered house.
Description
Up top, people and animals press around a cart heaped with vegetables, chickens in the foreground. Hats and jackets hint at chilly weather. Below, a group gathers before a snow-dusted house, a few figures in finer dress, a horse-drawn cart behind them. The wood-engraving technique gives the black-and-white print its density of detail.
Context
Harper's Weekly, one of America's leading illustrated magazines, published the print on November 27, 1858. Homer was then working as a freelance illustrator for the paper. The title 'Ways and Means' points to preparations for the Thanksgiving feast, while the lower episode depicts the return to the family home.
Impact
The two-part layout sets busy preparations against the quiet arrival of family. Black and white sharpen the contrast between motion and stillness. The sheet thus offers a vivid look at nineteenth-century Thanksgiving customs.
Technique
The wood engraving was made by cutting the design into a wood block and then printing it. This method allowed fine lines and details that could be reproduced in magazines like Harper's Weekly. The image measures 6 7/8 by 9 1/4 inches; the sheet is 16 by 11 1/4 inches.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)