The Art of Preparing and Making the Materials used in Writing [School piece or Penmanship sheet]

Publisher Carington Bowles I British
Calligrapher Inscribed text by Joshua Brookes British
1786
Not on view
This print is decorated at the top and sides with small scenes that show men working in a paper mill, making pounce, black ink, sealing wax and examining quills. Moral verses at center were added in pen and ink by Joshua Brookes, a student at Mr. Trubey's Academy, Red Lion Court, Bermondsey Street, London (see 26.28.802 for another sheet signed by Brookes in 1783).
The work comes from a genre known as writing sheets, writing blanks, penmanship exercises, letter sheets or school pieces, published in Britain ca. 1660 to 1860 and used by students to demonstrate their handwriting abilities.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Art of Preparing and Making the Materials used in Writing [School piece or Penmanship sheet]
  • Publisher: Carington Bowles I (British, 1724–1793)
  • Calligrapher: Inscribed text by Joshua Brookes (British, active 1783–86)
  • Date: 1786
  • Medium: Etching and engraving, with pen and ink
  • Dimensions: Plate: 17 1/8 × 13 7/8 in. (43.5 × 35.2 cm)
    Sheet: 18 7/16 × 14 3/4 in. (46.8 × 37.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Bella C. Landauer, 1926
  • Object Number: 26.28.801
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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