The Dinner Horn

Winslow Homer

1870

Wood engraving by an unknown engraver

13¾ x 9 inches

Harper’s Weekly, XIV (June 11, 1870): 377.

Homer typically found value in everyday people and events. In this illustration he validates the most prosaic of happenings – the sound of the dinner horn to call the family of workers, who are toiling in the field shown in the background, to their evening meal. Such densely-textured documents provide a vivid record of American life in the nineteenth century, showing those of the past with a vivid immediacy.

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke. [Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

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