Hungry Birds, from "The Graphic" Christmas Number
December 2, 1882
Medium
Color wood engraving
Dimensions
Image: 8 3/4 × 10 15/16 in. (22.2 × 27.8 cm) Sheet: 10 13/16 × 15 7/8 in. (27.5 × 40.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Donato Esposito, 2015
Accession Number
2015.653.14
Tags
Art Historical Context
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Bauerle’s *Hungry Birds*, created for the Christmas number of the British illustrated weekly *The Graphic* on December 2, 1882, captures a charming seasonal moment. The color wood engraving shows children—boys and girls—interacting with birds, evoking the gentle pleasures of wintertime generosity and nature’s simple joys. Published during the height of Victorian interest in illustrated periodicals, the work was designed to delight families gathered around the holiday table. As a color wood engraving, the print exemplifies the era’s innovative printing techniques that br...