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

An original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, lettered "RACE PARTHENAISE, TAUREAU." and published in Paris about 1863 in Victor Borie's Animaux de la Ferme, Espèce Bovine. A compact fawn bull stands in profile facing left, with short dark horns, a pale ring around the muzzle and darker shading over the head and neck. The body is deep and heavy, and the tail hangs to a dark switch. He stands on a sandy ground with a gray shadow and a soft band of haze 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 "Parthenay 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 drawing is also signed in the stone with the artist's script signature at lower left.

The plate shows the fawn cattle of the country around Parthenay in western France, used for work in the fields. 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 plate looks well in a narrow wooden frame, and several breeds from the series can be grouped in a row for a farmhouse kitchen or a study.

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