The New Year's Token, also called Christmas Present - George Baxter

Gift of Henry M. Huxley

"The New Year's Token, also called Christmas Present" by George Baxter (1836) Book with letterpress and two color wood engravings on ivory wove paper, bound in cover with tooled red leather.

Commentary

"The New Year's Token, also called Christmas Present" by George Baxter (1836) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the ex pressive work. Themes to notice include wood engraving. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. George Baxter is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: George Baxter (English, 1804-1867) published by Wm. The work is cataloged within a England cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as wood engraving, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Book with letterpress and two color wood engravings on ivory wove paper, bound in cover with tooled red leather) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (16.4 × 11.3 × 2.2 cm (6 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 7/8 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include wood engraving. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/61622

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data