[Man Riving Wood with Froe and Club]
1860s
![[Man Riving Wood with Froe and Club] by Unknown](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.artheonmuseum.org%2Fmet%2Fph%2Fthumb%2Fman-riving-wood-with-froe-and-club-291910.webp&w=3840&q=75)
Medium
Ambrotype with applied color
Dimensions
Image: 6.9 x 5.5 cm (2 11/16 x 2 3/16 in.) Plate: 8.3 x 7 cm (3 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.) Case: 1.1 x 9.2 x 7.9 cm (7/16 x 3 5/8 x 3 1/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Herbert Mitchell, 2008
Accession Number
2015.400.110
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the 1860s, amid America's Civil War era and rapid industrialization, this striking ambrotype captures a man intently riving wood with a froe—a specialized splitting tool—and a wooden club or mallet. Titled *[Man Riving Wood withroe and Club]*, this unknown artist's portrait highlights the gritty labor of rural woodworking, a vital craft for building homes, tools, and barrels in pre-industrial communities. The small image (6.9 x 55 cm) reflects the era's portable photography, often treasured in personal cases like this one (9.2 x 7.9 cm). Ambrotypes, created via the wet collodion on glass p...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...