Ayrshire Cow, Scottish Dairy Cattle Chromolithograph by Olivier de Penne, 1863

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color from several lithographic stones, from Victor Borie's Animaux de la Ferme, Espèce Bovine, published in Paris about 1863. The plate is lettered "RACE D'AYR, VACHE" (Ayr breed, cow). The cow stands in full profile facing the viewer's left, a neat, fine boned animal with a red brown coat marked by small white patches on the shoulder, flank and belly. Her short horns, tinted gray, curve upward and forward, her udder shows beneath the flank, and her tail falls to a long reddish switch. She stands on a pale sandy ground with a gray shadow at her feet.

Above the image, the plate is headed Animaux de la Ferme, Espèce Bovine (Farm Animals, Cattle), with the imprint "Lib Agricole de la Maison Rustique rue Jacob, 26, a Paris" at left (the agricultural bookshop of the Maison Rustique), and "par Victor Borie" (by Victor Borie) at right. Below the image, the artist's credit reads "Ol de Penne Pinx.t" and the printer's line reads "Imp Zanote rue des Boulangers 13 Paris" (printed by Zanote, rue des Boulangers, Paris). The abbreviation stands for pinxit, painted it. The artist's signature, Ol. de Penne, is also drawn into the image at lower left. The artist is the French animal painter Charles Olivier de Penne (1831 to 1897).

Ayr cattle, known in Britain as the Ayrshire, come from the county of Ayr in southwestern Scotland and were valued above all as a dairy breed. Borie's album sets out the cattle of France alongside British and other foreign breeds, each animal shown in profile on a plain ground so that build, coat and horns can be compared. It was issued by the Librairie Agricole de la Maison Rustique, the Paris publisher of agricultural books.

The clear profile and warm palette suit a kitchen, study or country house, alone or with other plates from the series.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.