Breton Ox, French Cattle Breed, Antique Chromolithograph by Borie, 1863

An original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, lettered "RACE BRETONNE, BŒUF" and published in Paris about 1863 in Victor Borie's Animaux de la Ferme, Espèce Bovine. An ox stands in profile facing left, his head and neck red brown and his body boldly patched in red brown and white. Upcurved horns rise from the poll, the legs are patched brown and white, with white about the feet, and the thin tail hangs close to the hind leg. He stands on a sandy ground under a warm buff sky.

The sheet is headed "ANIMAUX DE LA FERME, ESPÈCE BOVINE." (Farm Animals, Cattle), with the imprint "Lib. Agricole de la Maison Rustique, rue Jacob 26 à Paris." at upper left and "par Victor. Borie" at upper right. The caption below the image translates as "Breton breed, ox", and the printer's line "Imp. Zanote, rue des Boulangers 13, Paris." runs at lower left. At lower right, below the border, the artist is credited as "O. de Penne. del.", the Latin delineavit meaning "drew it", which names the French animal painter Olivier de Penne (Charles Olivier de Penne, 1831 to 1897). The drawing is also signed in the stone with the artist's script signature at lower left.

The plate shows the small, hardy cattle of Brittany in the northwest of France. Borie's album is a survey in colored portraits of the cattle breeds of France, together with British and other foreign breeds, issued in Paris by the Librairie Agricole de la Maison Rustique of 26 rue Jacob, a publisher of books on farming and rural life. Each animal is drawn broadside against a plain ground, the convention of the livestock portrait, so that the build, coat and horns of the breed can be read and compared from plate to plate.

The calm profile and wide margins suit a plain wooden frame with an off white mount, and the plate hangs well alone or with other cattle portraits from the series.

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