I'll admit it, I love paintings of roosters. In grad school, I did a series of hens and roosters, graphite (powdered and pencils) that I still wish I owned. So it's little wonder I'm drawn to them still. This is an unframed little sketch of an oil painting that just pleases me. French, early 1800s, whatever frame it once had has been refilled or sold apart from it. That happens particularly with the French Empire frames, and I think this painting would likely have been that old and perilously not everyone loves rooster paintings - separated. The painting has survived well, painting on thick panel, not a wooden board, . . something. No signature, but a very capable rendering of the anatomy of a rooster. Measurements are noted on pics. It's a bit of a portrait miniature - just of someone's rooster.
Very good for age and type. You see rubs to the outer perimeter where it would have fit into the frame which is no longer there. A tiny bit of loss, but nothing disturbing in a painting this old. A dark palette, you'll want it on a bookshelf or framed and hung where it gets some light. What could be more Country French than to hang him with a string only, and no frame?
