Peach Orchard Bourbon. Peach Orchard Still, produced by Strobridge & Co. Lith. in 1873, turns bourbon-making into a scene of pastoral abundance and purposeful labour. A copper still occupies the centre of a sunlit orchard, encircled by workers, wooden barrels and fruit-laden trees. Warm orange and burnished brown stand out against dense green foliage, while the entire scene is enclosed by a broad circular border resembling the end of a barrel—a neat visual device that makes the process, landscape and finished drink part of a single design.

Strobridge & Co. Lith. was a major American printing firm, particularly adept at the vivid, immediate commercial imagery demanded by nineteenth-century advertising. Here, the language of rural genre painting is harnessed to a promotional purpose. The orchard appears fertile and orderly, the apparatus substantial, and the work itself reassuringly visible. Rather than separating agriculture from industry, the composition binds them together: fruit, timber, copper, labour and distillation are presented as successive elements in a productive rural economy.

A closer look

The copper still provides the strongest visual anchor. Its rounded body and curving pipework are drawn with crisp contours, their glowing orange tones set against the cooler greens behind. Barrels gather around its base, some upright and others stacked, creating a sequence of cylinders that echoes both the still and the circular frame. Fine marks along the staves suggest the grain and construction of the wood, giving these working vessels a material presence rather than treating them as generic props.

Human activity is distributed to either side of the apparatus. On the left, a worker attends to the production process beside the still and barrels; on the right, another figure sits near containers of harvested fruit. Their clothing is articulated with small folds and changes of tone, while their modest scale leaves the machinery as the principal protagonist. Above them, peach trees spread across the upper half of the design. Small warm fruits punctuate the foliage, and glimpses of pale blue sky and softly blended clouds open the orchard beyond the denser foreground forms.

Text is incorporated as emphatically as the illustration. “PEACH ORCHARD BOURBON” commands the upper section, while “PURE COPPER DISTILLED.” runs below as a concise claim about production. A smaller sign at the left reads “PEACH ORCHARD STILL.” The lettering establishes a clear hierarchy: product name first, manufacturing assurance second, with the detailed central scene serving as persuasive visual evidence. The barrel-like surround reinforces that message without requiring another line of copy.

Context and significance

The design belongs to a period in which colour lithography gave advertisers an increasingly effective means of combining information, spectacle and brand identity. Its appeal lies partly in that compression. A complex chain of production is reduced to an easily grasped tableau, yet the image remains rich in incidental detail: fruit among the leaves, shadow beneath the trees, curling pipework and repeated barrel forms.

At the same time, Peach Orchard Bourbon reflects a wider nineteenth-century fascination with industry presented through an idealised rural setting. Machinery does not disrupt the orchard; it sits comfortably at its heart. The result is both commercial and pictorial—a carefully organised vision in which agricultural plenty and skilled manufacture appear inseparable.

Choosing the right size and finish

Artwork can feel intimate at smaller sizes and dramatically more architectural at larger ones. Use the room preview, model image and size guide to see how the proportions and scale will work in your space.

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The model in the listing images is holding the 16x16in (40x40cm) version of this art print.

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Selected artworks can be produced at statement sizes up to 3 metres (10ft). Custom sizing and specialist framing are also available. If the exact option you need is not listed, contact our workshop.

This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.