Tailpiece (page 284) from The Fables of Aesop
Thomas Bewick
British, 1753–1828
1818
A tiny wood-engraved tailpiece by Thomas Bewick that punctuates a page of Aesop’s Fables, meant to close the text with a compact, carefully observed landscape and to show his mastery of fine engraving.
Viewed up close it reads like a miniature stage: dense, delicate lines form small trees, a hedgerow and distant cottages so crisply rendered that the tiny scene feels textured and alive despite its postage‑stamp size.
Bewick’s tailpieces helped redefine book illustration by elevating wood engraving from mere ornament to a medium for naturalistic detail and narrative punctuation, shaping nineteenth‑century practices for integrating image and text.
Medium
Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 1 × 1 3/4" (2.5 × 4.5 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
680.1964.244
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
