Page from Ein new kunstlich Modelbuch...(Page 17v) 1544

This is a page from a model book, made around 1530 by Peter Quentel, using woodcut on paper. Model books like these were pattern sources for artisans. What we’re seeing here is essentially an early form of industrial design, but one that’s intimately connected to handcraft. The image is produced through the relatively replicable technique of woodcut, but is intended for highly skilled makers who would translate it into unique works. The linear quality of the print, made by carving away the woodblock, is actually quite different from the soft texture of embroidery, or the hard shine of metalwork. The artisan looking at this image would have to understand the material they were working with, and make skillful adjustments. Note also the incredible amount of labor required to produce one of these prints, where the final output gives little indication of the hours spent to create it. Ultimately, this book page invites us to reconsider the relationship between art, craft and labor during the early years of industrialization.