Sketch of a country cottage 

Editor: This watercolour piece, "Sketch of a Country Cottage," appears to be by Edwin Austin Abbey. The way the washes of colour blend into each other gives it a dreamlike quality, like something remembered. What are your initial thoughts on this work? Curator: Well, it’s fascinating how this sketch engages with ideas of labor and leisure. Consider the cottage itself: what materials were used in its construction? The rendering suggests locally sourced stone, timber, and perhaps hand-fired brick for the chimney. Editor: That's interesting, I hadn't thought about it in terms of labor. Curator: And consider the function of the cottage. Was it a home, a workplace, or both? How did the landscape around it factor into the occupants’ means of production and/or consumption? Watercolors were relatively accessible at the time. Who was creating these images, and who were they created for? Editor: So, it’s not just a pretty picture, but an insight into social and economic structures? Curator: Precisely! The 'handmadeness' itself is telling. Compare it to a mass-produced print. Which is more valued? Why? It shows an inherent bias based on labor investment. I wonder if there's a story connected to that vivid red chimney... Perhaps the maker intended that to catch the eye, to symbolize home fires, the core production point within a traditional life and family structure? Editor: I see what you mean! By looking at the materials and the subject, we're actually deciphering a whole narrative about production, labor, and social class at the time. Thanks, I’ll definitely view landscape sketches with new eyes from now on! Curator: It's important to consider how class dynamics are implicated in something as simple as watercolour paint.