House of the Smith (Maison du Forgeron, Benjamin Davis (Pays de Galles))

Seymour Haden was the unlikely combination of a surgeon and an etcher. Although he pursued a very successful medical career, he is mostly remembered for his etched work as well as for his writings on etching. He was one of a group of artists, including James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) and Alphonse Legros (1837–1911), whose passionate interest in the medium led to the so-called etching revival, a period that lasted well into the twentieth century. The extolling of etching for its inherent spontaneous qualities reached its pinnacle during this time. While the line of the etching needle, Haden wrote, was "free, expressive, full of vivacity," that of the burin was "cold, constrained, uninteresting," and "without identity."
A river, at right; at left, a man carrying a small boat on his back and holding a rod; behind, the house of Benjamin Davis Smith; a carriage parked opposite the house with a small dog seated near by.
"Published States: First.-The man with the coracle has disappeared. Published in Études à l'eau-forte (No. XVIII), under the title of 'House of Benjamin Davis, Smith.'"
[Source: Harrington, p. 64]
"State II (D1,H1). Published in Études à l'eau-forte (No. XVIII). The man, the small boat and most of the scratch or fishing pole removed, though the top is still visible. In the process of burnishing the man and the boat, several lines near the man were removed. Several other lines in this area were possibly reworked in drypoint."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 157]