Manual Labour Collection (#3)

Carding cotton, 1782. Creator: Pierre Sonnerat (1745-1814)
Carding cotton from Voyages aux Indes et a la Chine, 1782 (coloured engraving)

The Harvesters (August / September), 1565 (oil on panel)
3106602 The Harvesters (August/September), 1565 (oil on panel) by Bruegel, Pieter the Elder (c.1525-69); 118x161 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Stevedore, from Four and Twenty Toilers, pub. 1900 (colour lithograph). accompanies verse by E.V. Lucas (Edward Verrall Lucas) (1868 – 1938);

Mono Print
Agricultural Machinery : The Harvest Field P H Emerson - a reminder of the impoverished state of British agriculture from the 1870s onwards

Making pottery at Potters Square, Bhaktapur, Nepal, Asia

Orange Packing at Redlands, California, USA. After a photo-chromolithograph by an unidentified photographer, published circa 1899 by the Detroit Photographic Co; Redlands, California

Farm workers in rice field harvesting crops

The Reapers (oil on canvas)
XPG381895 The Reapers (oil on canvas) by Gore, William Henry (fl.1880-1916); Private Collection; English, out of copyright

Harvest, 1874 (oil on canvas)
XIR227704 Harvest, 1874 (oil on canvas) by Lhermitte, Leon Augustin (1844-1925); 122x205 cm; Musee des Beaux-Arts, Carcassonne, France; French, out of copyright

GEUR2A-00055
Russian peasant women at work, carrying large stones on a litter. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Cider making, October 1924
At Lickfold in Lodsworth Photograph by George Garland Garland Collection West Sussex Record Office Ref No: Garland N183B

Farm workers tending fields and harvesting crops, tractor and trailer loaded full with cabbages in foreground, farm buildings in background

Farm workers in a rice field, before, during and after harvest

Repairing the Railway, 1874 (oil on canvas)
BAL56608 Repairing the Railway, 1874 (oil on canvas) by Savitsky, Konstantin Apollonovich (1844-1905); 100x175 cm; Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia; Russian, out of copyright

Plate Number 521. A, walking; B, ascending step; C, throwing disk; D, using shovel; E
CGW496761 Plate Number 521. A, walking; B, ascending step; C, throwing disk; D, using shovel; E, using pick; F, using pick, 1887 (collotype) by Muybridge

Women Screening Coals at the Pits Mouth, image from The Wonderland of Work
XJF437932 Women Screening Coals at the Pits Mouth, image from The Wonderland of Work by Clara L. Mateaux, published 1884 by Cassell & co

Peasants haymaking, c. 1884 (w / c & ink on paper)
XBP335680 Peasants haymaking, c.1884 (w/c & ink on paper) by Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903); 25.4x16.5 cm; Private Collection; (add.info)

Use of the Sun: the Carriers, 1892 (oil on canvas)
XIR316640 Use of the Sun: the Carriers, 1892 (oil on canvas) by Gorguet, A.F. (1862-1927) & Bonnencontre, E.de (1862-p.1900); Musee du Petit Palais, Paris

The Blacksmith of Ruhla, c. 1854 (fresco) (detail) (see also 311146)
XPH311142 The Blacksmith of Ruhla, c.1854 (fresco) (detail) (see also 311146) by Schwind, Moritz Ludwig von (1804-71); Sammlungen auf der Wartburg, Eisenach

Progress of Enlightenment (Education), 1819 (coloured engraving)
XIR778868 Progress of Enlightenment (Education), 1819 (coloured engraving) by Engelmann, Gottfried or Godefroy (1788-1839); Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris

Harvesting - Member of the Leicester Womens Volunteer Reserve helping a farmer
XJF425318 Harvesting - Member of the Leicester Womens Volunteer Reserve helping a farmer, War Office photographs, 1916 (b/w photo) by English Photographer

Reaper (pencil on paper) (b / w photo)
XIR287287 Reaper (pencil on paper) (b/w photo) by Gogh, Vincent van (1853-90); Private Collection; (add.info.: Faucheur; ); Dutch, out of copyright

Exterior of the Boiling House, from Ten Views in the Island of Antigua
XYC281187 Exterior of the Boiling House, from Ten Views in the Island of Antigua, 1823 (colour litho) by Clark, William (1808-83) (after); 23.5x34.3 cm; Yale Center for British Art

Illustration from Etchings of Rustic Figures: for the Embellishment of Landscape
XYC281551 Illustration from Etchings of Rustic Figures: for the Embellishment of Landscape, 1815 (etching) by Pyne, William Henry (1769-1843); 23.8x13.5 cm; Yale Center for British Art

L Avenue de L Opera, 1878 (oil on canvas)
XIR271491 L Avenue de L Opera, 1878 (oil on canvas) by Nittis, Giuseppe or Joseph de (1846-84) (attr. to); Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris

The Potato Harvest, 1886 (oil on canvas)
XMV2639963 The Potato Harvest, 1886 (oil on canvas) by Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903); Private Collection; French, out of copyright

Building the New Gallery of the British Museum (litho) (b / w photo)
XJF264724 Building the New Gallery of the British Museum (litho) (b/w photo) by Scharf, George the Elder (1788-1860); Private Collection; German, out of copyright

Building Work on a Railway Line, 1871 (oil on canvas)
BAL241147 Building Work on a Railway Line, 1871 (oil on canvas) by Pukirev, Vasili Vladimirovits (1832-90); 84.8x63.3 cm; State Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; Russian, out of copyright

Interior of a Hat Mill, Victoria, c. 1900, from Under the Southern Cross - Glimpses
KW187924 Interior of a Hat Mill, Victoria, c.1900, from Under the Southern Cross - Glimpses of Australia, published in 1908 (b/w photo) by Australian Photographer (20th century)

Interior of a Shoe-Making Factory, Victoria, c
KW187923 Interior of a Shoe-Making Factory, Victoria, c.1900, from Under the Southern Cross - Glimpses of Australia, published in 1908 (b/w photo) by Australian Photographer (20th century)

Sheep Shearing Shed, Queensland, c. 1900, from Under the Southern Cross - Glimpses
KW187921 Sheep Shearing Shed, Queensland, c.1900, from Under the Southern Cross - Glimpses of Australia, published in 1908 (b/w photo) by Australian Photographer (20th century)

Silver Mining Operation, Nevada, c. 1870, from American Pictures, published
KW187917 Silver Mining Operation, Nevada, c.1870, from American Pictures, published by The Religious Tract Society, 1876 (engraving) by English School

Mechanic and Steam Pump, 1921 (b / w photo)
XOS1765273 Mechanic and Steam Pump, 1921 (b/w photo) by Hine, Lewis Wickes (1874-1940); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA; American, out of copyright

Clandestine Bullet Production, 1812-13 (oil on canvas)
XIR155394 Clandestine Bullet Production, 1812-13 (oil on canvas) by Goya y Lucientes, Francisco Jose de (1746-1828); 33x52 cm; Palacio Real de Madrid, Spain; Spanish, out of copyright

The Harvester (oil on canvas)
XIR155368 The Harvester (oil on canvas) by Gogh, Vincent van (1853-90); Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; Dutch, out of copyright

Metallurgy (oil on canvas)
XIR155340 Metallurgy (oil on canvas) by Didier, Jules (1831-92); Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee du Petit-Palais, France; French, out of copyright

The Pit Sawyers (chalk on paper)
XIR155309 The Pit Sawyers (chalk on paper) by Millet, Jean-Francois (1814-75); Musee Bonnat, Bayonne, France; French, out of copyright

Two Reapers Seen from the Back (chalk on paper) (b / w photo)
XIR155308 Two Reapers Seen from the Back (chalk on paper) (b/w photo) by Millet, Jean-Francois (1814-75); Louvre, Paris, France; French, out of copyright

Churning Butter, 1866-68 (pencil & pastel on paper)
XIR155306 Churning Butter, 1866-68 (pencil & pastel on paper) by Millet, Jean-Francois (1814-75); 122x85.5 cm; Musee d Orsay, Paris, France; French, out of copyright

Boatmen Pouring Fresh Water into the Pipelines (w / c on paper)
XIR154621 Boatmen Pouring Fresh Water into the Pipelines (w/c on paper) by Grevenbroeck, Jan van (1731-1807); Museo Correr, Venice

October (oil on panel)
XAL160679 October (oil on panel) by Rustici, Cristoforo (1560-1640); Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy; Italian, out of copyright

The Sower, maquette for a monument dedicated to the workers in the fields, 1889-1900
XIR160577 The Sower, maquette for a monument dedicated to the workers in the fields, 1889-1900 (terracotta) (b/w photo) by Dalou, Aime Jules (1838-1902); height: 41 cm; Musee de la Ville de Paris

Harrowing the cabbage crop on the shore of the Thames at Manor Farm, Crossness, near Woolwich London 1949

Blacksmith TopFoto
Blacksmith © TopFoto

Bagging potatoes in cold winter snow. 1947

Horsedrawn harrow TopFoto
Horsedrawn harrow © TopFoto

Garden fork being pressed into lawn with foot, close up

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"Unyielding Dedication: A Glimpse into the World of Manual Labour" From the towering Miner statue in Tonypandy, Rhondda Valley, Glamorgan, Wales, to the coal riddling workshop at Blanzy's mines in 1860s Europe - manual labour has left an indelible mark on our history. In Camelsdale, 1937, amidst the rhythmic tapping of hammers and the scent of fresh wood shavings, skilled hands crafted intricate bee skeps. Meanwhile, at Great Yarmouth's quayside in Norfolk, England steam-powered machinery hummed as fishermen tirelessly unloaded their catch from herring fisheries. Across oceans and continents lies Cuba; where under a scorching sun in c. 1910 black and white photos reveal men harvesting sugar cane with unwavering determination. The weighty bundles were then loaded onto carts by sweat-soaked workers who knew no respite. Journeying further south to Morocco's Chouara Tannery within Fes el Bali's ancient Medina walls reveals artisans immersed waist-deep in vibrant dyes while tending to leather hides - a testament to generations of craftsmanship passed down through time. The manufacture of indigo dye found its place both historically and geographically diverse – whether it be South Carolina in 1770 or Szechuan during 1867-72 China. These images depict laborers meticulously extracting nature's hues for textiles that would adorn countless lives. Finally arriving at Imperial Valley near Meloland California in 1939 brings us face-to-face with Dorothea Lange’s poignant photograph capturing stooped figures tying carrots against a backdrop of vast fields – embodying resilience amidst adversity. These glimpses into various corners of our world remind us that manual labour is not confined by borders but rather unites humanity through shared experiences, and is through these tireless efforts that progress is forged and legacies are built, shaping our past and inspiring our future.