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The Weary Ploughman

Print
1858 (etched), 1865 (published)
Artist/Maker
Palmer, Samuel (etcher)
Place of origin
England (etched)

Rural scene showing a herdsman or ploughman driving a pair of oxen homeward on a country lane. The moon is low on the horizon, its light partly obscured by clouds. The roofs of cottages can be seen at the foot of the hillside.


Object details

Category
Prints
Object type
Print
Titles
  • The Weary Ploughman (assigned by artist)
  • Tardus Bubulcus (assigned by artist)
  • The Herdsman (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Etching print on a yellowish India paper
Printing Ink
India Paper
Etching
Brief description
'The Weary Ploughman' (also known as 'The Herdsman'), a rural scene showing a man driving a pair of oxen on a country lane. Etching by Samuel Palmer (1858). Published in 'A Selection of Etchings by the Etching Club', England, 1865.
Physical description
Rural scene showing a herdsman or ploughman driving a pair of oxen homeward on a country lane. The moon is low on the horizon, its light partly obscured by clouds. The roofs of cottages can be seen at the foot of the hillside.
Dimensions
  • Plate height: 19.2cm
  • Plate width: 26.4cm
Taken from the dimensions given in the Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue of the Prints, Drawings, Paintings & Photographs Collections and converted from inches to centimetres.
Marks and inscriptions
'4' (Printed in the lower margin.)
Object history
Before letters. This is the same as working proof 3, but with the number '4' engraved in the lower margin.
This was one of the twelve etchings published by Cundall in A Selection of Etchings by the Etching Club, 1865, plate 4.

'This plate, in common with others of the 1865 series, was supposed to have been destroyed. About ten years afterwards, however, I discovered that it was in existence, and that impressions were about to be sold. On communicating with the secretary of the Etching Club, this was put a stop to, and the plate bought and destroyed.' - A. H. Palmer [see references]
Production
Etching started in 1858.
Final state published by Cundall in A Selection of Etchings by the Etching Club, 1865.

Attribution note: Published State
Subjects depicted
Agriculture
Oxen
Moonlight
Night Scenes
Cottages
Herdsmen
Ploughmen
Rural Scenes
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of an exhibition of drawings, etchings & woodcuts by Samuel Palmer and other disciples of William Blake. London, Pub. under the authority of the Board of Education, 1926 no. 195
  • Catalogue of an Exhibition of Drawings, Etchings & Woodcuts by Samuel Palmer and other Disciples of William Blake October 20 - December 31, 1926. London : Published under the authority of the Board of Education, 1926. Publication No. 178 E.I.D. pp.76-78.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.3767-1902

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O878151/the-weary-ploughman-print-palmer-samuel/
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