Trade card for W&H Cave, Engraver, Printer, and Pattern Card Maker
19th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 × 2 15/16 in. (3.8 × 7.5 cm) Plate: 1 3/8 × 2 13/16 in. (3.5 × 7.1 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Bella C. Landauer, 1926
Accession Number
26.28.202
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling world of 19th British commerce with this petite trade card for W&H, engravers, printers and pattern card makers. anonymously in Britain during the Victorian era, this engraving served as a promotional tool—think of it as an early business card or advertisement, designed to be handed out or collected. Measuring just 1 1/2 × 2 15/16 inches, its compact size made it perfect for slipping into pockets or pasting into scrapbooks, reflecting the era's growing culture of consumer advertising amid the Industrial Revolution. Engraving, the medium here, highlights the precision of...