Myles Birket Foster RWS - Signed Etching "The Goose Girl"

Myles Birket Foster Rws (1825-1899) was a hugely popular British illustrator, watercolourist and engraver of the Victorian period. The Times' obituary described him as "certainly the most popular water-colour artist of our time". He started out as a wood engraver, working on illustrations for Punch and Illustrated London News, and then taught himself to paint in watercolours in the 1850s, being elected to the Royal Society of Watercolour Artists in 1862. He was friends with Pre-Raphaelite artists, such as William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. This charming etching is called "The Goose Girl" (after a painting by Frederick Walker 1840-75) and shows a girl driving a flock of geese through a village. Some sources suggest the village is Cookham. The information on the back of the frame suggests a title of "At the Ford" but this seems to be incorrect. Signed by the artist lower right and with stamp of fox lower left.