Cette toile imprimée sur fond blanc fut gravée par Narcisse Alexandre Buquet, fils d’Alexandre Buquet vers 1830 chez l’indienneur Henri à Maromme.

Cette toile illustre les relations complices qu’entretenait Rousseau avec cette femme, sa protectrice qui l’héberge, le conseille à Annecy depuis l’âge de 16 ans.

« et pour tenir notre appétit en haleine, nous allâmes dans le verger achever notre dessert avec des cerises. Je montai sur l’arbre, et je leur en jetais des bouquets dont elles me rendaient les noyaux à travers les branches. Une fois, Mlle Galley, avançant son tablier et reculant la tête, se présentait si bien, et je visai si juste, que je lui fis tomber un bouquet dans le sein ; et de rire. Je me disais en moi-même. ».

Plusieurs versions de cette toile sont connues, certaines portent la signature et la marque de la fabrique Henry, sur d’autre le nom de Henry a disparu. Cette omission pourrait signifier que la toile a connu un succès important et a donc été réimprimé chez un autre indienneur, Buquet gardant lui, la propriété de sa gravure.

This work, printed on a white background, was printed by Narcisse Alexandre Buquet, the son of Alexandre Buquet, around 1830 at the workshop of Indienne manufacturer Henri in Maromme. It illustrates the knowing relationship that Rousseau maintained with this woman, a patron who housed and advised him in Annecy from the age of 16 years old.

The image depicts idyllic moments described by Rousseau in his autobiographical work Les confessions. The cherry picking scene is particularly recognisable. It shows a passage of Les confessions (Book IV, Chapter 6), in which Rousseau picks cherries with Miss Galley by Camille Roqueplan. Numerous prints reproduced this illustration of the young man picking cherries and dropping them into the cleavage of the young ladies. This scene, often referred to as the cherry idyll, is described by Rousseau as follows: “To keep our appetites in play, we went into the orchard, meaning to finish our dessert with cherries. I got into a tree, throwing them down bunches, from which they returned the stones through the branches. One time, Mademoiselle Galley, holding out her apron, and drawing back her head, stood so fair, and I took such good aim, that I dropped a bunch into her bosom. On her laughing, I said to myself.” We know of several versions of this painting, some bearing the signature and mark of the Henry factory, and others on which the Henry name has disappeared. This omission could mean that the painting was a major success and was therefore reprinted by another Indienne manufacturer, with Buquet maintaining ownership of his print.