Highlights from the print collection
An introduction to the print collection of the Royal Collection
Two peasant women
dated 13 Jan 1842RCIN 816723
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert made their first etchings in 1840, under the guidance of George Hayter. A printing press was set up at Buckingham Palace for their use; Hayter was responsible for the acid-biting of the early plates but was soon replaced in this task by the queen's dresser, Marianne Skerrett, and on occasion by the London publishers Colnaghi & Co. From 1842 the royal couple were also tutored by Edwin Landseer, whose drawings they sometimes copied, as here; and in 1846 they also tried their hands at lithography, under the supervision of Edwin Dalton, son-in-law of the miniaturist William Ross.