To see the Alderney

To see the Alderney

Hugh Thomson

Photo-mechanical reproduction of pen and ink drawing

3½ x 3 inches

Gaskell, Elizabeth.Cranford, p.9

Thomson chooses not to show Miss Barker’s cow, a moth-eaten Alderney, and focuses instead on the reactions of the curious neighbours. Caught between the desire to laugh and unwillingness to hurt its owner, the characters are engaged in subtly-nuanced scrutiny: an image of English embarrassment in a society where even the smallest impropriety is an event for discussion and scandal.

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