{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O204024"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O204024/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O204024","accessionNumber":"E.669-1993","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"The Smithy","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"James Sharples was working outside the London print trade in publishing his print The Forge. The acclaim that he received for that print must have been a motivating factor behind the publication by the firm Goupil of a photogravure of The Smithy by Sharples from an as yet unidentified source.\n\nSharples was a blacksmith and self-taught artist who lived in Blackburn, Lancashire. His significance to art history and the history of the working class lies in his being a manual worker resident outside London whose artistic output attracted the notice and admiration of the London art establishment. \n\nSharples was not trained in the techniques of reproductive printmaking and reputedly made the tools for his printmaking himself. The practice of a craftsman making his own tools was standard in many trades. That in this instance the tools were for the making of a fine art object reflects the unique nature of this project which unitied art and manufacturing. The plate for this print is in the collection of Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery.","physicalDescription":"Interior of a smithy with furnace and shovels in the back left corner, five men and a boy working in the centre beneath a central hanging light and two more men working in the background. On the right wall are tools, also two arched glazed windows and a small square unglazed and open window high up in the centre.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"James Sharples","id":"A16347"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Goupil","id":"A31908"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x28702"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"}],"techniques":[{"text":"photogravure","id":"AAT53207"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Photogravure india proof","categories":[{"text":"Printmaking techniques","id":"THES252987"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLC (VA)","id":"THES49171"},"free":"","case":"MB2D","shelf":"DR80","box":"SS60"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"print","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1894","earliest":"1894-01-01","latest":"1894-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Marion Sharples, the artist's grand-daughter","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"21.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"platemark","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"33.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"platemark","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"43.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"62.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Published by the Executors of the Late James Sharples, Blackburn, 1894. / THE SMITHY / From the Picture by the Late James Sharples","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Centred, lower margin"},{"content":"Printed in Paris. ","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Top right of lower margin"},{"content":"Copyright registered","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Top margin, centred"},{"content":"Goupilgravure","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Top left, lower margin"}],"objectHistory":"Provenance: the artist's grand-daughter by descent.\r\nR.P. No. 93/1031","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photogravure. Printed in Paris by Goupil from a print by James Sharples. The Smithy, 1894.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Baron, J. <u>James Sharples: Blacksmith and Artist</u>. London, 1893, p.50-53 (illus)."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Blackburn","id":"x45809"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"smithy","id":"AAT7734"},{"text":"blacksmiths","id":"AAT25313"},{"text":"founders","id":"AAT25303"},{"text":"anvil","id":"AAT23119"},{"text":"mallets","id":"AAT24825"},{"text":"tongs","id":"AAT24748"},{"text":"shovels","id":"AAT24300"},{"text":"furnace","id":"AAT6438"},{"text":"beams","id":"AAT1497"},{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"windows","id":"x40278"},{"text":"windows","id":"AAT2944"},{"text":"chisels","id":"AAT24665"},{"text":"men","id":"AAT25928"},{"text":"boy","id":"x42934"},{"text":"hooks","id":"AAT33539"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.669-1993"],"accessionNumberNum":"669","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1993,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-20","recordCreationDate":"2009-03-20","availableToBook":false}}