Two peasant women

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.