Paul Henry RHA (1877-1958)Hay Stooks with Cottages Oil on board, 32.4 x 37.5cm (12¾ x 14¾'')SignedProvenance: A Private Cork CollectionLikely to date to the 1920s, this charming and unusual work depicts a small settlement with five simple thatched cottages nestling under a somewhat foreboding deep blue mountain, beautifully modeled in the artist’s signature transparent glazes. The use of pale green is uncommon in Henry’s palette but it unifies the cottages and maintains, the sense of community, providing a central lush band of greenery that is then counterbalanced with the ripe cornfield in the foreground. Also of unusual note is the artist’s use of a collection of corn-stooks, rarely seen in his work, normally being eschewed in favour of the ubiquitous turf mounds.Painted on plywood and framed in traditional black moulding, it has the original old trade label of John Gilbert (Sidney Gilbert), Print Seller and Frame Maker of 120 Patrick Street, Cork. The label also boasts that Gilbert was Optician to the Eye Hospital And to the Faculty.