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The Wreck of the Reliance (November 12, 1842)

A work made of steel engraving colored with wood-blocks in oil-based inks on paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of steel engraving colored with wood-blocks in oil-based inks on paper.

Date:

November 1, 1843

Artist:

George Baxter
English, 1804-1867

About this artwork

George Baxter—known as “The Picture Printer”— made technically innovative work that often portrayed important mid-19th-century historical events. He based this dramatic shipwreck tableau on the description given by the only English survivor of a shipwrecked tea-merchant ship, the Reliance. Of the 116 passengers, only seven survived. Baxter used about 8 color blocks for this print, in addition to the intaglio “key,” exemplifying the intricacy of his procedure. This work attests to his ability to fashion vibrant, captivating prints, as well as his interest in Great Britain’s triumphs and tragedies.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

George Baxter

Title

The Wreck of the Reliance (November 12, 1842)

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1843

Medium

Steel engraving colored with wood-blocks in oil-based inks on paper

Dimensions

Image: 30 × 41.5 cm (11 13/16 × 16 3/8 in.); Sheet: 30.5 × 42 cm (12 1/16 × 16 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Henry M. Huxley

Reference Number

1946.957

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/59487/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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