{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O124384"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O124384/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O124384","accessionNumber":"E.53-1935","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"Weymouth Bay, Dorsetshire","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"This is the fifth and final recorded proof before publication. The print has been created after a painting by John Constable which is owned today by the Louvre, Paris. It was published by John Constable in <i>English Landscape Scenery</i>, number 1, June 1830.\r\n\r\nThe process of mezzotint has its origins in experiments made by amateur artists to reproduce oil paintings tonally in black and white. This print by David Lucas (1802-1881) is the fifth and final recorded proof before publication reproducing a painting by John Constable (1776-1837) now in the Louvre, Paris. It was published by Constable in English Landscape Scenery, number 1, June 1830.\r\nTo create a mezzotint the engraver, or, more likely, an apprentice, rocked a toothed tool backwards and forwards repeatedly in different orientations over the entire surface of a metal plate to roughen the surface and bring up metal burr. The engraver then used a scraper to selectively polish the burr back down to create graduations of tone; polishing right down to a bare surface of the metal created the highlights since no ink could be held in those areas. Mezzotint is very expensive, and thus reserved for large portraits or reproductions of oil paintings. While laborious, the method enabled the image to be built up in tone rather than line. Under a magnifying glass the grey-tones reveal the criss-crossing effect produced by the rocker.","physicalDescription":"Landscape mezzotint of Weymouth Bay, Dorsetshire, in black and white.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Lucas, David","id":"A16057"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Constable, John (RA)","id":"A8267"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":"after"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"India paper","id":"AAT14141"},{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"}],"techniques":[{"text":"mezzotint","id":"AAT53233"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Mezzotint, India paper","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Printmaking techniques","id":"THES252987"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLD","id":"THES49658"},"free":"","case":"EM","shelf":"24","box":"C"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"print","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1830","earliest":"1830-01-01","latest":"1830-12-31"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs A.C. Taylor in memory of her husband John Eastern Taylor.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"26","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Papersize","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"33.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Papersize","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"17.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Platemark size","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"22.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Platemark size","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"14.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Picturesize","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"18.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Picturesize","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"7","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"measurement taken from register. "},{"dimension":"Width","value":"9","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"measurement taken from register. "}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The painting from which David Lucas worked is in the Louvre","historicalContext":"Given by Mrs A.C. Taylor in memory of her husband John Easton Taylor.","briefDescription":"Mezzotint.  David Lucas after John Constable. Weymouth Bay, Dorsetshire, Great Britain, 1830.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Weymouth","id":"x37566"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.53-1935"],"accessionNumberNum":"53","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1935,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-05-26","availableToBook":false}}