Jan Cornelis Haccou, 'A Road by a Cottage', 1819

This is an early work by Haccou, who was born and trained in Middelburg in the Netherlands. He was a pupil of Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek (1778–1851). After travelling in Switzerland, France and Germany, Haccou settled in London.

Two peasants converse on a track that runs past two cottages; one man is seated while the other stands leaning on his stick. Behind them a wagon laden with hay is pulled along by a chestnut horse accompanied by a labourer with a long staff. The hay cart suggests that this scene is set at the end of summer, when the meadows are cut and the hay brought in to feed the livestock over the coming winter.

The cottage in the right foreground is simple and constructed from planks of wood on the gable end depicted. It has a brick chimney and tiled roof, although the area above the gable is thatched. It has a plank door high up in the wall, which is perhaps the opening to a hayloft. It may be that the wooden and thatched end of the cottage is an attached barn for the livestock. A narrow grass path runs up to it through the glade of silver birch trees. The trees, especially the foliage, are meticulously painted in this carefully composed and finely painted view.

Two shaggy goats sit on the path in the foreground, while a third, or possibly a sheep, wanders off to graze. A white cow stands beneath the birch trees in the middle ground with its back to us. In the distance, across the fields, are the spires and towers of a small town.

The atmosphere is one of calm, celebrating the slow pace of country life in all its picturesque charm. Perhaps this picture was painted for or bought by a city-dweller nostalgic for the simplicity and peace of rustic life.