Shovel Collection

(1755-1804). Hamilton at Yorktown in 1781. Steel engraving, 1858, after a painting by Alonzo Chappel
ALEXANDER HAMILTON (1755-1804). Hamilton at Yorktown in 1781. Steel engraving, 1858, after a painting by Alonzo Chappel

Solidarity of Labour: Labours May Day, dedicated to the workers of the world. Cartoon of 1890 by Walter Crane (1845 - 1914)

East Pool Mine Illogan, Cornwall. 1893
Clearing out ore from landing brace at surface. Photographer: John Charles Burrow

Dig for Victory poster - WWII
World War Two poster encouraging British civilians to dig for victory, featuring somebody doing just that

Snow shovellers in Piazza della Signoria in Florence after an exceptional snowfall Florence piazza della Signoria. Date of Photograph:1900 ca

Medieval peasant
Peasant carrying a shovel in the 1400s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Workers in Heihe on the Chinese Russian border shovel heavy snow from the worst snowstorm to hit northern China in
Ashley Cooper / SpecialistStock

Ruins of Petworth boys school, 29th September 1942
Buildings after being bombed. Military personnel clearing rubble from bomb site. 29 September 1942. George Garland Collection West Sussex Record Office Ref No: Garland N21852

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Tsarevitch, Grand Duchess Tatian
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia pictured with two of his children, the Grand Duchess Tatiana and Alexei, the Tsarevitch, building a fortification from snow in the grounds of the Imperial Palace at

Illustration of female manual worker standing behind tipper truck holding spade

Each man for himself - prospectors at West Wylam digging for coal during the fuel shortage in February 1952

FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE. The founding of St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 by Pedro Menendez de Aviles (center). Wood engraving, American, 19th century

Garden irrigation in the 1500s
Garden water pumped through beds via intersecting channels, formal bed design of 1571. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Tapping blast furnace, and casting iron into pigs, Siemens iron and steel works, Wales, 1885. The pollution generated during the production of iron and steel at the Siemens Landore Works

Norman Gnome

Miner at coal face -3
Coal miner working underground at the coalface of Acres Nook private coal mine, near, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire England. The mine closed in 1991. First published The Sunday Correspondent Date: 1990

Set mine tools, equipment in cartoon style isolated on white background. Wooden cart with gold, silver, coal ore, tunnel entrance, retro lamp, pickaxe Set mine tools

Hardy Patent Pick Co. mining tools 1890s
Selection of solid steel mining hand tools made by Hardy Patent Pick Co, in Sheffield. Date: 1890s

Chef Frank Boggie of the Albany Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland, almost met his match when he cooked up Shrove Tuesday pancakes. Workman Willie Duffy reconed anything Frank could do, he could do better

Miner at coal face -2
Coal miner working underground at the coalface of Acres Nook private coal mine, near, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire England. The mine closed in 1991. First published The Sunday Correspondent Date: 1990

Fire shovel, reverse
Cast polished steel fire shovel with a decorative brass handle, a floral finial and a bell-shaped blade with a pierced flower motif, part of a set of fire tools including tongs and a poker

A Ruston-Bucyrus 25-RB steam navvy loading side-tipping wagons, hauled by 0-6-0 tank locomotive 'Pelican' at Hessle Quarry

8972501

Coal miners, between c1910 and c1915. Creator: Bain News Service
Coal miners, between c1910 and c1915

Shovelling snow in City Hall Park, New York, 1910. Creator: Bain News Service
Shovelling snow in City Hall Park, New York, 1910

8626017

Coal Works. A view near Neath in Glamorganshire, South Wales, 1798 (hand coloured aquatint on paper)
7485352 Coal Works. A view near Neath in Glamorganshire, South Wales, 1798 (hand coloured aquatint on paper) by Hassell, John (1767-1825); 22x33 cm; Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Telford

A footplate
5310314 A footplate; (add.info.: Engraving depicting a footplate - the platform for the crew in the cab of a locomotive - as the crew shovel coal into the furnace)

A Hobart chain-gang, a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form
5614423 A Hobart chain-gang, a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment; (add.info.: A Hobart chain-gang)

Anglo Saxon agriculture: four-wheel wagon 107, two-wheel wagon 108, plough 109, shovel, scythe and hammer 110, sickle
FLO4702412 Anglo Saxon agriculture: four-wheel wagon 107, two-wheel wagon 108, plough 109, shovel, scythe and hammer 110, sickle, rake and fork 111, harvest cart 112

Natives of the Admiralty Islands fishing and sailing, Papua New Guinea. Handcoloured copperplate engraved by Sasso
FLO4624417 Natives of the Admiralty Islands fishing and sailing, Papua New Guinea. Handcoloured copperplate engraved by Sasso from Giulio Ferrario's Ancient

WW1: The soldier king (illustration)
8684959 WW1: The soldier king (illustration) by Job, pseudonym for Onfray de Breville, Jacques (1858-1931); (add.info.: Events of the war 1914-1918 illustration Job The soldier king Facts of war)

Preparing a charcoal pit on a Wealden farm, Sussex (b/w photo)
8676031 Preparing a charcoal pit on a Wealden farm, Sussex (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Preparing a charcoal pit on a Wealden farm, Sussex)

Roadworks in Paris at night (colour litho)
8673206 Roadworks in Paris at night (colour litho) by Jeanniot, Pierre Georges (1848-1934); Private Collection; (add.info.: Roadworks in Paris at night)

Shaving, Shepherd, Shipwreck, Shoeblack, Shovel, Shrew-mouse, Shutter, Shuttle, Sickle, Sideboard, Sidewalk
8650077 Shaving, Shepherd, Shipwreck, Shoeblack, Shovel, Shrew-mouse, Shutter, Shuttle, Sickle, Sideboard, Sidewalk, Signal (engraving) by German School

8622672

French postcard dated circa, 1900, showing two children playing in the sand on a beach
3665464 French postcard dated circa, 1900, showing two children playing in the sand on a beach by French School, (20th century); (add.info.: French postcard dated circa 1900)

Leibig card depicting French children on the beach 1890
3665734 Leibig card depicting French children on the beach 1890 by Unknown Artist, (19th century); (add.info.: Leibig card depicting French children on the beach 1890.); Universal History Archive/UIG

Caricature about the 1819 comet (end of the world) (engraving)
1729392 Caricature about the 1819 comet (end of the world) (engraving)

A mollebart
5311959 A mollebart; (add.info.: Engraving depicting mollebart, an agricultural implement formerly used in Flanders, consisting of a kind of large shovel drawn by a horse and guided by a man)

A labourer setting off for work
5616098 A labourer setting off for work; (add.info.: Illustration depicting a laborer setting off for work on a winter morning. Dated 19th Century. 01/01/1872); Universal History Archive/UIG

Alexei Nikolaevich son of Nicholas of Russia, 1910s (b/w photo)
5669290 Alexei Nikolaevich son of Nicholas of Russia, 1910s (b/w photo); Universal History Archive/UIG

A reaping shovel
3732432 A reaping shovel; (add.info.: Engraving depicting a reaping shovel. Dated 19th Century.); Universal History Archive/UIG

Trades: Navvy (colour litho)
8641505 Trades: Navvy (colour litho) by English School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Navvy. Illustration for one of a set of playing cards used in the game Jack of All Trades)

New Zealand, 1890s: Prospectors trying a Dish (b/w photo)
8662635 New Zealand, 1890s: Prospectors trying a Dish (b/w photo) by New Zealand Photographer, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Prospectors trying a Dish)

A lighted coal cellar, mid 1930s (b/w photo)
8634925 A lighted coal cellar, mid 1930s (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: A lighted coal cellar, mid 1930s)

postcard depicting French children on the beach, 1900
3665731 postcard depicting French children on the beach, 1900 by French School, (20th century); (add.info.: postcard depicting French children on the beach 1900.); Universal History Archive/UIG

A navigator's shovel
5311955 A navigator's shovel; (add.info.: Engraving depicting a navigator's shovel. Dated 19th century.); Universal History Archive/UIG

Title page with vignette of Demeter goddess of agriculture with scythe amid statuary in a park
FLO4616286 Title page with vignette of Demeter goddess of agriculture with scythe amid statuary in a park. Engraving by Pillement finished by Nee after a painting by Percier

Miner's Tools (engraving)
8637292 Miner's Tools (engraving) by American School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Miner's Tools)

First World War 1914-1918: Belgian King Albert I and his General Staff work on the trenches on the Yser River
XEE4170280 First World War 1914-1918: Belgian King Albert I and his General Staff work on the trenches on the Yser River, 1914 (print); Private Collection; (add.info.: First World War 1914-1918)

Work at the Bakalskii mine, 1910. Creator: Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky
Work at the Bakalskii mine, 1910. A family, with shovels and horse-drawn carts, working at the iron mines in the Bakaly hills

Paddy drying9
Shaibal Nandi

Worker
Madhusudanan Parthasarathy

Doc Rosecrans a gold prospector on Superstition mountain, Apache Junction, Arizona. Where he digs for gold and searches for the legendary lost Dutchman mine

Mr. Jim Rees at Beamish Museum with a full scale replica of George Stephensons Locomotion No.1 on 3rd May 1989

Holding a firemans shovel, the Mayor, Coun. Frank Mavin, celebrates the Stephenson Railway Museum launch with train driver Richard Swales on 2nd May 1987

Labourer Mr Idris Silman takes a break, Tredegar, Wales
Mr Idris Silman, a manual labourer, takes a short break while digging up the road in Tredegar, South Wales. He sits on the raised pavement with his shovel. The Sunday Times Date: 1988

Alfred Gee, one-man coal mine, Cheshire - 2
Alfred Gee working his one-man coal drift mine in Cheshire, England. Mr Gee did not wear a miners helmet, and used a carbide (acetylene) lamp in the mine Date: 1971

Alfred Gee, one-man coal mine, Cheshire - 1
Alfred Gee working his one-man coal drift mine in Cheshire, England. Mr Gee did not wear a miners helmet, and used a carbide (acetylene) lamp in the mine Date: 1971

Miner at coal face -1
Coal miner working underground at the coalface of Acres Nook private coal mine, near, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire England. The mine closed in 1991. First published The Sunday Correspondent Date: 1990

Fire companion set
Chromed metal fire tongs with a thistle-shaped knop, from an Ianthe fire companion set, made in England c.1930. Date: c.1930-1939

Topping out JLP01_09_781093
THE SHOPPING CENTRE, SILBURY BOULEVARD, MILTON KEYNES. The last load of concrete being shovelled on the roof of the John Lewis store restaurant during the construction of the shopping centre in

Rock drawings of human figures and palette (shovel), Naquane National Park, Capo di Ponte, Valcamonica, Lombardy, Italy

A French fireman uses a shovel behind flames in a burning field of barley during harvest season in Niergnies, France, July 17, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A man shovels snow during a winter storm in Ottawa, Canada, February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A resident shovels snow away from the entrance to his home in Union City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Midtown Manhattan, after the second-biggest winter storm in New York history

The News Reaches Bogota. Cartoon, 1903, by W. A. Rogers from the New York Herald
PANAMA CANAL CARTOON. The News Reaches Bogota. Cartoon, 1903, by W.A. Rogers from the New York Herald, showing President Theodore Roosevelt rudely presenting Colombia with the fait accompli of his

The day after
SONY DSC. Senad Tahmaz

clean city 2
Roswitha Schleicher-Schwarz

Cleaning
Angela Muliani Hartojo

From Siberia with Love ! (II)
Sorin Onisor

the man who hates diagonals
Claudio Moretti

Taming the fire
Lucian Constantin

Looking For a Job (Snow Shoveller), c1859. Creator: Charles Felix Blauvelt
Looking For a Job (Snow Shoveller), c1859

Les Écuries d'Augias, 1842. Creator: Honore Daumier
Les Ecuries d'Augias, 1842. The Augean Stables. Se faire recureur, pour un heros superbe, C'est, par Hercule, un gout difficile a chanter

The Recent Deep Snow in Massachusetts: street in New Bedford, 1857. Creator: Unknown
The Recent Deep Snow in Massachusetts: street in New Bedford, [USA], 1857. Not for twenty-five years has this part of the country been visited

Landscape with the Table Mountain, seen from Sint-Janskerkhof near Laren, c.1795. Creator: Jacob Cats
Landscape with the Table Mountain, seen from Sint-Janskerkhof near Laren, c.1795. In the 17th century, a stone orientation table was installed on the Tafelberg, a man-made hill

U.S.S. Massachusetts, fire room, between 1896 and 1901. Creator: Unknown
U.S.S. Massachusetts, fire room, between 1896 and 1901

Vous n'avez pas besoin de me rappeler ses titres... 1871. Creator: Honore Daumier
Vous n'avez pas besoin de me rappeler ses titres... 1871. You don't need to remind me of his titles

Vous n'avez pas besoin de me rappeler ses titres... 1871. Creator: Honore Daumier
Vous n'avez pas besoin de me rappeler ses titres... 1871. You don't need to remind me of his titles

Leonard D.Mahon with Steel Helmet He Invented That Could Be Used As Shovel, 1917. Creator: Harris & Ewing
Leonard D.Mahon with Steel Helmet He Invented That Could Be Used As Shovel, 1917

Leonard D. Mahon with steel helmet he invented that could be used as shovel, 1917. Creator: Harris & Ewing. Leonard D
Leonard D. Mahon with steel helmet he invented that could be used as shovel, 1917

Child, between 1910 and 1921. Creator: Harris & Ewing. Child, between 1910 and 1921. Creator: Harris & Ewing
Child, between 1910 and 1921

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"From Solidarity to Victory: The Enduring Symbolism of the Shovel" The humble shovel, a tool that has witnessed and shaped history across centuries, stands as a symbol of labor, resilience, and triumph. Its significance transcends time and borders, connecting diverse moments in human experience. In the spirit of solidarity, labors around the world celebrate May Day each year. They unite under banners bearing images like Hamilton at Yorktown in 1781 - an iconic depiction of determination amidst conflict. This steel engraving by Alonzo Chappel captures the essence of collective effort that echoes through generations. During World War II's darkest days, the "Dig for Victory" poster became a rallying cry for nations ravaged by war. It urged citizens to cultivate their own food as an act of defiance against scarcity and oppression. In Heihe on the Chinese-Russian border, workers shoveled heavy snow during one fateful March storm - a testament to their unwavering dedication even in nature's harshest grip. Through royal corridors and mining tunnels alike, shovels have left indelible marks on history's canvas. Tsar Nicholas II himself may have wielded one alongside his family members while tending to their estate or engaging in manual labor - reminding us that hard work knows no boundaries. Deep within East Pool Mine in Cornwall lies evidence of back-breaking toil endured by miners seeking prosperity beneath unforgiving earth. Similarly haunting are the ruins of Petworth boys school from September 29th, 1942 - where young hands once grasped shovels now reclaimed by time but forever etched into memory. Gender barriers crumbled as well when illustrations depicted female manual workers standing proudly behind tipper trucks with spades held high. These women shattered stereotypes while contributing significantly to societies' progress. The founding tale unfolds further with Pedro Menendez de Aviles establishing St. Augustine, Florida in 1565.