Combe Bottom
Medium
Etching and drypoint on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 11.4 × 15.2 cm (4 1/2 × 6 in.); Sheet: 15.9 × 21.4 cm (6 5/16 × 8 7/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
78922
Art Historical Context
**Combe Bottom** (1860) by Francis Seymour Haden invites visitors into the serene English countryside through the intimate medium of etching and drypoint on cream laid paper Measuring just 11.4 × 15.2 cm, this modest print captures a quiet valley scene, or "combe," evoking the rolling landscapes Haden knew well near his Surrey home. As a prominent figure in Britain's Etching Revival of the 1860s, Haden—a surgeon by trade—elevated printmaking from mere reproduction to a painterly art form, rivaling oil paintings in depth and mood. Haden's mastery shines in his combined techniques: etching for ...
About the Artist
Francis Seymour Haden · 1818–1910
Sir Francis Seymour Haden (1818–1910) was a pioneering English etcher and distinguished surgeon whose passion for printmaking elevated him to the forefront of Britain's Etching Revival. Born on 16 September 1818 in Chelsea, London, to physician Charles Thomas Haden, he received a classical education at Derby School and Christ's Hospital before pursuing medicine at University College London and the...