Thomas Sidney Cooper was one of the foremost animal painters of the Victorian period. He was born in Canterbury, Kent, and as a small child he began to show strong artistic inclinations, but the circumstances of his family did not allow him to receive any systematic training. By the time he was twelve years old, he was working in the shop of a coach painter. Later he obtained a job as a scene painter, and he alternated between these two occupations for about eight years. He still felt a strong desire to become an artist, and all his spare moments were spent drawing and painting from nature. At the age of twenty, he went to London, drew for a while in the British Museum, and was admitted as a student of the Royal Academy. Subsequently, he returned to Canterbury, where he was able to earn a living as a drawing master and by the sale of sketches and drawings.

Another painting by Sidney Cooper of a herd at the foot of the cliffs at Herne Bay was sold by Sotheby's for €45600