Seascape Normandy The Pebble Gatherers Etching 19th C

Foulquier, Jean Antoine Valentin (1822 Paris- 1896 l'Isle-Adam) french painter and engraver.
The pebble gatherers (Normandy)
etching, very nice proof on Japan paper
19th c.
31,9 x 47,3 au sujet            12.55 x 18.62 inches
46,9 x 62,5 cm feuille          18.46 x 24.60 in.
Dry mark bottom left :  « XK printseller's association »
Signed by the artist with pencil bottom right, and countersigned in the plate.
Valentin Foulquier was a  pupil of Abel de Pujol, he exhibited at the Salon in Paris from 1848. He was a remarquable engraver notably for etching (359 pieces have been numbered) and also drew for publications which adapted his drawings to woodcut. 
This sheet shows two women carrying  baskets full of pebbles on their back (they were at the time used for various constructions) climbing at night back to their home, in a fantastic atmosphere, almost symbolist, strengthened by the dislocated boat on the foreground. The whole scene is dominated by a capstan on top of the cliff.
Bibliography :  Bénézit ; Marcus Osterwalder : Dictionnaire des illustrateurs 1800-1914, éditions Hubschmid & Bouret  Paris 1983 (p383) ; Gérald Schurr : les petits maîtres de la peinture 1820-1920 valeur de demain, les Editions de l'Amateur T.III Paris 1976.