The Herd

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 Etching Revival, a movement 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."
This print represents lush trees framing a field below a castle atop a distant hill. The herd of deer mentioned in the title are tiny distant forms resting on the grass. Harrington's early catalogue describes this version as "Trial Proof(b)", while Schneiderman's later text designates it state two of three. An etched inscription 'Werrington" at lower left, indicates that the scene is located in a park in Cornwall.