SHAD-FISHING ON THE HUDSON

Art

-

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

SHAD-FISHING ON THE HUDSON

Entry/Object ID

L.2007.261

Description

The historic, economic and cultural importance of the American shad to life along the East Coast has lead some to call it "the founding fish." The fishing industry of the Hudson was built on this plentiful natural resource and the catch also contributed to the region's agriculture, as the hauls were also used for fertilizer. Shad fishing appeared on the cover of Harper's Young People, shown here, with small vignettes showing the different stages of the process, from loading the nets from large wooden on-shore reels, to gathering the fish from nets strung out along the river, supported by shad poles. The best hauls of shad were made under a full moon, when high tides laden with fish passed through the nets. Cover of Harper's Young People with a series of wood engravings of shad-fishing: in border along top of page, printed: "HARPER'S I YOUNG PEOPLE I AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY"; below, beneath a border of two lines, printed: "Vol. II. - No. 78.; PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.; PRICE FOUR CENTS."; below, printed between a border: "Tuesday, April 26, 1881.; Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS.; $1.50 per Year, in Advance."; below are the overlapping wood engravings; on top left is a scene of fish in a net captioned: "CAUGHT."; on top right is a large contraption captioned: "THE REEL."; in center, a rowboat on the river at night captioned: "PICKING THE NET."; on bottom right is a scene of men pulling a net into shore captioned: "DRAWING THE SEINE BY MOONLIGHT."; insets of "PAYING OUT NET." and "THE WINCH."; on bottom left, printed signature of "J O Davidson"; below image, printed: "SHAD-FISHING ON THE HUDSON. - [SEE NEXT PAGE.]"; recto: a page of text.

Artwork Details

Medium

Paper; ink

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Julian Oliver Davidson

Attribution

Artist

Manufacturer

Harper's Weekly

Date made

Apr 26, 1881

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

11-1/4 in

Width

8 in

Dimension Notes

Display Dimensions: 11 1/4 x 8 in. (28.6 x 20.3 cm)

Condition

Notes

Remarks: Irregularly cut along left edge; small tear top right, just above image.

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

William Diebold

Notes

Former owner

General Notes

Note Type

Curatorial Remarks

Note

Diebold Box #5

Note Type

StorageNote

Note

Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Administrative Office, Archive Room, Shelf O3, B9

Note Type

Department

Note

Library