A classic lithograph from the 1938 book High Street, depicting a traditional butcher shop with the characteristic graphic style of Eric Ravilious.

This illustration originates from the 1938 book High Street, a collaboration between Eric Ravilious and the writer J.M. Richards. The project documented various shops across Britain, capturing a specific moment in the nation's commercial history before the onset of the Second World War. Ravilious employed lithography to create these images, a process that allowed for the layering of distinct colours and textures.

The composition features a butcher standing outside his shop, J. Hart. The shop window displays various cuts of meat, rendered with a flat, graphic quality that is characteristic of the artist's approach to printmaking. The architectural elements, such as the brickwork and the shop front, are simplified into geometric forms. The use of cross-hatching and patterned lines provides texture to the pavement and the butcher's apron, demonstrating the artist's background in wood engraving.

Ravilious possessed a keen eye for the mundane details of English life. His work often focuses on the quiet, everyday structures that define a street scene. By isolating the shop front, he elevates a standard commercial establishment into a subject of formal study. The palette is restrained, relying on muted tones that reflect the printing techniques of the period. This print offers a glimpse into a vanished era of independent retail, presented through the lens of a mid-century British modernist.