Interieur van een tinnegieter 1871 - 1909

Willem Albracht made this print of a pewterer’s workshop using etching, a printmaking technique dating back to the Middle Ages. In the etching process, a metal plate is coated with a waxy ground and the artist scratches an image into this ground with a needle. The plate is then submerged in acid, which bites into the exposed metal, creating incised lines. Consider the ways in which etching is particularly well suited to describe the making of objects. The process mirrors the artisan’s actions - cutting into the surface of a material to create form. Here, Albracht uses the etched line to evoke the tools, materials and workspace of the pewterer. The metal sheets, wooden blocks and buckets depicted are essential to the pewterer’s craft. The quality of the etching highlights the textures of the workshop: from the rough-hewn timber of the walls, to the soft gleam of the pewter itself. Albracht's etching provides a window into the world of craft production. By focusing on the artisan and his environment, Albracht elevates the status of labor and challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.