Het Bretagner Paard [Breton Horse]

[Antwerp: Zutphen, Schillemans & Van Belkum, 1907. Colour-printed lithograph by J.L. Goffart, after a painting by Otto Eerelman on heavy textured card. Very good condition apart from some chipping at the extreme edges. A rare and finely rendered portrait of a noble draft horse, from the limited Dutch edition of Eerelman's 'Paardenrassen Kunstalbum'.

Originating in Brittany during the Middle Ages, the popular Breton horse was prized for its hardiness, strength and stamina. Bred in three types, the Postier Breton, the Heavy Draft Breton, and the Corlay or Central Mountain Breton, the Breton is still one of the most widely used draft horses in France. A skilled draftsman, watercolourist, and painter, Otto Eerelman was born in the Netherlandish village of Groningen in 1839, where he studied with the Dutch history painter J.H. Egenberger at the Minerva Academy. He later studied in Paris in 1867 and in Brussels from 1874 to 1876. After living in The Hague and Arnhem for several years, he returned to his hometown, where he became an instructor at the Minerva Academy. Although widely reputed for his paintings of the royal family, particularly Queen Wilhelmina, Eerelman was primarily known for his detailed renderings of horses. In 1907, Zutphen, Schillemans & Van Belkum published a Dutch edition of Paardenrassen Kunstalbum, a portfolio of chromolithographed plates based on paintings by Eerelman, which depict different breeds of draft horses.

Mennessier de la Lance, Essai de bibliographie hippique donnant la description détaillée des ouvrages publiés ou traduits en latin et en français sur le cheval et la cavalerie, avec de nombreuses biographies d'auteurs hippiques, p. 667.