peg-cutting

Updated: May 4, 2025

The thriftless, flighty fellow seemed to persist in misconceiving his situation, undervaluing his artist abilities; forgetting that but for these he would still have been peg-cutting in the Sussex woods. He would regard himself as a gentleman of independent property, with whom art was simply a pastime not at all an indispensable means of winning his sustenance.

Dutton Cook - Art in England: Notes and Studies