Charolais Bull, French Cattle Breed, Antique Chromolithograph by Borie, 1863

An original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, lettered "RACE CHAROLAISE, TAUREAU." and published in Paris about 1863 in Victor Borie's Animaux de la Ferme, Espèce Bovine. A massive cream white bull stands facing left, his body in profile and his head turned slightly toward the viewer. The curly poll carries short horns, the muzzle and the rims of the eyes are pink, and the heavy neck and thighs are modeled in soft gray and buff. He stands on a pale ground streaked with ochre, with a gray shadow behind.

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 "Charolais breed, bull", 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 plate shows the white cattle of the Charolais country of Burgundy, raised for work and for beef. 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.