A marvellous French landscape, featuring women gathering wood next to the lake , their cottages in the distance, deep woodland to the right.
 
The canvas is skilfully painted with particular adept depiction of the light on the trees and the blue of the sky reflecting in the lake in the foreground. It is signed Bondoin in the bottom right.
 
This was a favoured theme of the Barbizon School painters - named after the village on the outskirts of Chateau  Fontainebleu's forest where the key artists of the movement gathered, among them Rousseau, Manet and Degas. The movement was active from around 1830 to 1870.
 
It is in well preserved condition for its age, there is one half inch split on the canvas on the edge of the top left size, it does not effect stability. This fabulous painting  measures 21.5" by 18"