Clementine Hunter
Syrup Making , 1975
Oil on Canvas Board
18 x 24
in
This vibrant painting by Clementine Hunter beautifully captures the traditional process of making cane syrup, a central part of rural Louisiana life. The artwork illustrates several key steps of syrup production, from the harvest and transport of sugarcane to the final bottling of the finished syrup.
• At the top left, a figure drives a mule-pulled cart, illustrating the hauling of freshly cut sugarcane from the fields, which is a crucial first step in the journey from harvest to syrup.
• In the center, a worker feeds cane stalks into a large mechanical press, representing the crushing and juicing process. The extracted juice flows into waiting containers before it is boiled.
• Toward the upper right, a large kettle emits steam as a worker stirs its bubbling contents. This shows the boiling step, where cane juice is cooked over an open fire. Hunter also depicts the “kettle train,” a series of large pots heated sequentially, which was used to gradually concentrate the syrup as workers skim away impurities.
• The foreground is filled with busy figures tending the kettles and carefully straining and bottling the finished syrup, preserving it in barrels and jars for future use.
Hunter’s painting not only documents the labor-intensive syrup making process, but it also pays tribute to the teamwork and skill of those who performed each stage by hand. Her work honors traditional methods, from mule-driven transport and manual pressing to the careful boiling and bottling techniques that defined the cane syrup tradition in early Louisiana.
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