Description
A humorous rural scene shows a fantastical steam-powered harvesting machine trundling through barley, staffed by farmers enjoying tea breaks and creature comforts. The sheet carries the series header “The Gentle Art of Making Guinness” and the caption “Early Morning on the Guinness Farm”, with the line: “An interesting new machine for harvesting our choice barley.”
Issued as part of John Ireland’s twelve-image Guinness calendar for 1981, the set playfully illustrates stages in Guinness production, starting with crop harvesting.
Fine pen line with soft, watercolour-style colour and gentle caricature evoke a Heath Robinson pastiche; the artist credit “John Ireland” appears in the lower margin.
