We have always associated Mr. Birket Foster and the late David Cox together, as representative artists of genuine English rural scene, though there is such a wide difference in their style and manner and in the subjects of their respective pencils; for while the latter made his figures subordinate to the landscape, the former, as a rule, gives the most importance to his figures, the landscape portion of his composition being the setting in which his rustic groups are enshrined, and very beautiful setting it is, characterised by a thorough feeling for the picturesque in all the varied aspects of nature. The popularity of his pictures, both in oils and water-colours-we prefer the latter vastly-cannot be matter of surprise, for the always leave a most agreeable impression of the mind: he takes little, if any, notice of grown-up people, having but small sympathy with their rural occupations or amusements; but he delights in the young, and loves to represent them in their various sports and recreations-gathering primroses by the woodside, making coronals of wild flowers, romping in the hayfields, nutting, blackberry gathering, swinging on the branches of trees, building sand castles on the seashore, or launching tiny boats on tiny lakes left by the receding tide.

Out of such materials he constructs his winsome representations of juvenile life.

            But in the picture engraved here we have a group of young girls about to engage serious occupation than any of those just named: seated on the bank of turf which skirts a garden path, they are about to dispose of a dish of cherries, probably gathered in an adjoining orchard-and, by the way, there is scarcely a prettier sight of its kind than a Kentish cherry orchard when the fruit, red, black, and with, is fully ripe, and, in a prolific season, seems to be as plentiful as the leaves of the trees. The maidens are all intent on the work they have to do, and each appears to be making a choice of the most inviting from the general stock; one of the girls, with a little excusable affection of manner, holds out her selection for the notice of her compositions. The composition of the quartette is easy and natural, and as we look at them commencing their “feast,” it is only natural to desire for them that “good digestion may wait on appetite.” In the flower-border opposite the girls are some fine white lilies: did the artist introduce them as emblems of the purity of his young friends?

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, lithographs, ect. are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of it's age.