Shere Mill Pond, No. II

 

 

Francis Seymour Haden (16 September 1818 – 1 June 1910), Shere Mill Pond, No. II, etching and drypoint, 1860, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Schneiderman 37, sixth state(of 9). Published in Etudes a L’eau-forte.  In adequate condition (repaired hole in sky upper left), the full sheet, 7 x 13 1/8, the sheet 8 1/8 x 13 3/4 inches.

A very good impression, with much burr from the drypoint work, on laid paper.

Shere Mill Pond was considered one of the early high marks of the British Etching Revival movement. Malcolm Salaman wrote of this print in 1923:

"But it was in 1860...that the Shere Mill Pond was done, that plate which, with its tenderly expressive charm
of a still pool reflecting all its sheltering greenery under the calmest of summer skies, and scarcely disturbed even by the
sudden flutter of a water-fowl, Hamerton was tempted to describe as "with the single exception of one plate by Claude (Le Bouvier),
the finest etching of a landscape subject that has ever been executed in the world "—praise that I agree with Wedmore in
regarding as extravagant."

(We might agree today that although this praise is indeed extravagant, Shere Mill Pond, No. II does have lasting charm.)