Herring Fishery Photogravure Appraisal

Lifting the Nets: The Herring Fishery Photogravure

This is a monochrome photogravure or lithographic print titled 'Lifting the Nets: The Herring Fishery,' after a work by the artist Charles Napier Hemy (active late 19th to early 20th century). The print depicts three fishermen in a small boat battling rough, cresting waves to haul in their catch, with seagulls circling overhead near a bobbing buoy. The composition is highly dynamic, capturing the intensity and hardship of maritime labor. The print measures approximately 10x14 inches within its visible margins. It is rendered in a grayscale palette with deep charcoals and soft grays, characteristic of late Victorian or Edwardian era mass-produced maritime art. The title is clearly printed in a serif font at the bottom center, with smaller attribution text visible on the lower left and right corners. Structurally, the paper appears to be a medium-weight stock, now showing signs of light age-related toning. There are minor foxing spots and slight waving of the paper under the glass. The piece is housed in a modern white mat, though reflections in the glass suggest it is being viewed in a domestic interior. The quality of the stippling and tonal transitions indicates a professional reproductive process from the early 1900s, aimed at the burgeoning middle-class art market of that period.