Swiss Farmhouse with a Girl of Vaallande and Bernese Peasants, Lithograph, 1842

An original antique lithograph, hand colored, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows a large timber farmhouse with a deep sweeping roof, carved balconies and rows of small windows, raised over a whitewashed ground floor with an arched doorway. Small figures sit and stand on the ground in front, with a dog, and tall trees rise at right. The lower image shows three country people. At left a young woman in a wide straw hat with a pointed crown, a white blouse with a red striped bodice and a blue skirt carries a load of greenery on her back. In the center a woman sits on a rock in a lace headdress spread like a fan, with long braids, a white blouse, a red bodice, a blue skirt and a pink apron. At right a young man in a red waistcoat, white shirt and cream breeches leans on a stick, carrying a large round wooden vessel on a frame on his back.

The lettering reads "Tav 56" at upper left, "ITALIA" in the center and "Tom. IV" at upper right, although the subjects are Swiss. The captions read "Casa rustica in Svizzera" (Rustic House in Switzerland) and "Ragazza di Vaallande · Contª e Pastore del cantone di Berna" (Girl of Vaallande, Countrywoman and Herdsman of the Canton of Berne).

Timber farmhouses with broad overhanging roofs, often sheltering family, livestock and hay under one roof, are characteristic of the Swiss countryside.

A good choice for a chalet, a country kitchen or anyone with a connection to Switzerland.

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