Headpiece (page 119) from The Fables of Aesop
Thomas Bewick
British, 1753–1828
1818
A small wood engraving headpiece by Thomas Bewick that illustrates the fable “The Bear and the Bee‑Hives,” turning a moral tale into a single concentrated pictorial moment.
The oval vignette stops you with its miniature realism—fine cross‑hatching and delicate strokes make the bear’s shaggy fur, the woven bee‑hives, and the leafy fence into tactile, intimate detail at a tiny scale.
Bewick’s engraving helped establish wood engraving as a precise, reproducible art for illustrated books, bringing close observation and moral storytelling to wide readerships and shaping 19th‑century illustration.
Medium
Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving
Dimensions
composition: 2 5/16 × 3 1/8" (5.8 × 8 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
680.1964.110
Palette
Exhibitions
