Croquet 1878

James Tissot made this print, Croquet, using etching, a process of working metal. Here, Tissot has employed painstaking work to describe a leisured scene. Etching involves coating a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant ground, then scratching into it with a needle. The plate is immersed in acid, which bites away at the exposed metal. The longer the immersion, the deeper the lines. Once the plate is cleaned, it is inked and then printed onto paper. Look closely, and you can see the density of tiny marks used to create the image. Tissot has conjured up different textures; the soft grass, the woman’s ruffled skirt, the feathery foliage of the trees. The choice of etching for this subject matter is significant. It speaks to the rise of print culture in the late 19th century, when the middle classes began to develop new forms of popular culture and consumption. Tissot’s image is not only of its time, but of its market, and the very labor that produced it.