{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O194227"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O194227/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PJ7582/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PJ7582/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PJ7582","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O194227/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O194227","accessionNumber":"E.776-1991","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"The Cornfield","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Constable, who was interested in the 'chiaroscuro of nature', or the effects of light and shade, chose mezzotint as the print medium for reproducing his work and asked David Lucas to collaborate with him. In 1832 he and Lucas embarked on the production of five large mezzotints, of which <i>The Cornfield</i> is the second. The production of t his was first discussed in June 1832 but not completed until a year later. The corresponding oil painting in the National Gallery is one of Constable's most famous works. ","physicalDescription":"Depicts a landscape framed on both side by trees, leading to a cornfield beyond which is being harvested and in the background, a church. In the foreground on the left a boy is drinking from a stream and there is a sheep dog and flock of sheep on a farm track. A sheep and cow are feeding from a bush at the side of the track. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"David Lucas","id":"A16057"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"John Constable","id":"A8267"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"after"},{"name":{"text":"Lucas, David","id":"A16057"},"association":{"text":"engraver","id":"AAT25165"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Constable, John (RA)","id":"A8267"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":"after"},{"name":{"text":"F.G. Moon","id":"N11510"},"association":{"text":"publisher","id":"x32600"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"India paper","id":"AAT14141"},{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"},{"text":"white","id":"AAT13723"},{"text":"wove paper","id":"AAT14187"}],"techniques":[{"text":"mezzotint","id":"AAT53233"},{"text":"heightening","id":"AAT53418"},{"text":"drypoint","id":"AAT53228"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Mezzotint with drypoint","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Landscapes","id":"THES250800"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2025PJ7582"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"WS","id":"THES49603"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"prints","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1833","earliest":"1833-01-01","latest":"1833-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1834","earliest":"1834-01-01","latest":"1834-12-31"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"34.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"24.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"68.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"51","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"D. Lucas. 1833","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Signed and dated [DL treated as a monogram]"},{"content":"[illegible inscription]","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"pencil"}],"objectHistory":"From Acquisition file, note by Susan Lambert: The oil painting (exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1826) on which this mezzotint is based is in the National Gallery. Lucas engraved it as his own risk.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Mezzotint by David Lucas after Constable's 'The Cornfield', London, 1833; published by F.G. Moon in 1834.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Shirley, A. <u>The published mezzotints of David Lucas after John Constable, R.A.: a catalogue and historical account</u>. (Oxford, 1930)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Catalogue of the Complete Works of David Lucas</u>. Gooden and Fox's Gallery, May, 1903."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Proof","id":"THES48870"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"landscape","id":"AAT15636"},{"text":"trees","id":"AAT132410"},{"text":"farmland","id":"AAT8632"},{"text":"sheep dog","id":"x37971"},{"text":"sheep","id":"x30093"},{"text":"cow","id":"x30280"},{"text":"boy","id":"x42934"},{"text":"stream","id":"AAT8699"},{"text":"church","id":"AAT7466"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"[group label with E.258-1990]\r\nLarge prints based on paintings were popular in the early- 19th century. Lucas created six large plates after Constable’s work, including these two mezzotints that Constable referred to as ‘the pair’. Constable worked hard with Lucas to perfect them, although Lucas financed the prints himself and organised their publication with the print seller and publisher, F.G. Moon. The mezzotints achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success, much to Constable’s delight. Nevertheless, Constable and Lucas’s relationship was tested when Constable suspected him and Moon of deceiving him. Close colleagues by this stage, painter and printmaker resolved their differences quickly and continued collaborating until Constable’s death.\r\n\r\nFrom <i>John Constable and David Lucas: A Unison of Feelin</i>g at V&A South Kensington from 15 November 2025 to 14 June 2026","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}},{"text":"<i>The Cornfield</i>, 1834\r\nDavid Lucas after John Constable\r\nMezzotint with drypoint, trial proof\r\nwith touches of white opaque watercolour\r\nConstable took genuine pleasure in Lucas’s work on the plate for this mezzotint, affectionately calling it ‘the Drinking Boy’. The plate’s commercial success was in marked contrast to that of Constable’s original painting, which remained unsold in his studio upon his death. The painting was eventually bought for the National Gallery in 1837, making it the first Constable painting to enter a public collection.\r\n\nFrom <i>John Constable and David Lucas: A Unison of Feeling</i> at V&amp;A South Kensington from 15 November 2025 to 14 June 2026","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["E.776-1991"],"accessionNumberNum":"776","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1991,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-09-23","recordCreationDate":"2009-03-02","availableToBook":false}}