The Vicarage

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."
Bridge at left; stream in foreground and across right; clouds in sky; country church among trees.
"State I (Da, 2 impressions). A coarsely etched scene of a small stone bridge with four arches across a stream; beyond are several houses on the bank and a country church among trees which are indicated with a few sketchy lines. Two punts are moored at the right of the bridge."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 329]