STEEL ENGRAVING – “KEPT IN” from the original painting by Erskine Nicol, engraved by J. Stephenson, published in 1878.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 9 ¾” x 7 ¼”, and is matted to 11” x 14” for easy framing.

     Oliver Goldsmith introduces a schoolmaster as one of the characters in “The Deserted Village,” and the pedagogue in the engraving “Kept In” may be considered a modern variety of the same types as there described.  A scene, such as the painter has chosen is not an uncommon one in the rural districts in Ireland, while the incident itself is common to every country where schoolboys are.  School has just broken up, and the master sits in awful majesty absorbed in his newspaper, persistently unconscious of the urchin whose eyes are fixed with longing eagerness on the confiscated top.  Perhaps the spalpeen has been troublesome - no unlikely conclusion, - or possibly the daily tribute of turf was not forthcoming, and such neglected cannot be overlooked.   The sound of the boys at play must come with provoking distinctness through the open door, while the ridicule of his schoolfellow, who, is preparing to leave, does not lessen the culprit’s uneasiness.  It may, however, be assumed that the punishment will not be of long duration, and that the offender will shortly be at liberty to join his companions.

      Little as such a school, as here depicted, may accord with our ideas of education, men of ability and learning are frequently to be met with under as uncouth an exterior as this village schoolmaster, and a much better education is often to be obtained than the ill-appointed school-room would seem to promise.

    The schoolmaster is the village authority in all matters of secular learning, and the stings of poverty are perhaps blunted by the respect paid to him by his humble neighbors.  His learning is far beyond the depth of rustic minds, and few indeed are those who dare to question his assertions, or to measure themselves against him in argument.  Like the schoolmaster of “The Deserted Village,”

                                                “Still the wonder grew

                                    How one small head could carry all he knew.”

    Erskine Nicol was born at Leith, Scotland, in 1825, and received his art education in Edinburgh.  He went to Ireland in 1846, and since that date his most celebrated pictures have related to Irish subjects.  He is particularly happy in scenes from humble life, such as that which forms the subject of the engraving “Kept In”.  He was elected an associate of the British Royal Academy in 1862, and is also a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, and lithographs are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.

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