La Chaumiere

Jessie Arms Botke

Painter-printmaker Jessie Arms Botke and her husband Cornelis Botke traveled to Europe in 1923, spending a year in France and eight months in Holland. It is likely she did this two color blockprint, probably using linoleum blocks, while she was there. As was usual she included birds, in this case three ducks, within her composition which features a humble cottage (chaumiere). The green color of this image will vary from impression to impression.

Wikipedia notes:

"The chaumiere is a traditional rural house in northern and western Europe, named after its thatched roof (wheat or rye straw, reed stalks as the case may be). It is found mainly in the north and north-western countries of Europe: the British Isles , the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark as well as in the north-west of France, mainly in Normandy and, to a lesser extent, In Brittany. There are, however, more southerly regions where it is present in a limited space, such as the Camargue, Brière (France), or places where a historical presence is attested."