On Their Way to Camp
Artist: Eastman Johnson (American, 1824 - 1906)
Original Dimensions: 19 1/4" × 29 5/8"
Location: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
About Artwork: (1873) "Eastman Johnson is known for his genre scenes, or paintings of everyday life. Here, he depicted an early step in the process of making maple syrup, an activity he knew well from growing up in Maine.
Two boys tow a sled carrying a barrel used to gather sap. A younger boy rides on top, holding a wooden bucket. Each large maple tree around them has two spigots that point downward into birch bark baskets. If you look closely at the spout at the bottom right, you can see the sap dripping. The technique of collecting maple sap and the baskets were developed by Indigenous peoples in the northern United States and Canada.
At the camp in the background, figures tend to a fire where they’ll boil sap to concentrate its sugars into maple syrup." - (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.)

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