The farmer

This Gable stone has been placed inside the building!

The gable stone of THE FARMER in his Sunday suit, decorated with bows and buckles, which proudly points to what must presumably be a butter tub, was until recently bricked into a former stable wall behind the house as a later addition.
This is a strange place for that stone and it is therefore probably from Muntstraat 7, which had "in the farmer" as its house name. This was the birthplace of Maria Aldegonde Hoeberechts, who married Petrus Regout in 1825, and that possibly explains the presence of this stone in this spot.

In view of the flamboyant Louis-style decoration on both sides and the farmer's clothing, the depiction must be 18th century, but curiously the style of the imposed letters in the caption is more 19th century (perhaps a later addition?).

There is also much to discover about the former country house on the De Kanjel estate (Mariënwaard 61) that Petrus Regout bought in 1862, to which he had alterations made and which he named La Grande Suisse.
The depiction of the goddess with lion in the pediment of the facade and the chronogram, which can be found in two parts on the little globes (teapots) in the garden, are from before his time.  

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Depicted in the pediment of La Grande Suisse is not the goddess of peace, but the originally Circassian nature goddess Cybele. By the Romans she was worshipped as the Magna Mater, the Great Mother Goddess who, since the beginning of the 2nd century B.C., had her temple on the Palatine, the administrative and religious centre of Rome.
In antiquity the goddess was depicted on a throne flanked by lions or sitting on a lion, standing between lions or riding in a chariot covered with lions. She usually wears a crown on her head (usually a wreath, symbolising the city wall) and holds a sceptre or a horn of plenty in her hand. Here at la Grande Suisse she holds a lance in defence of the city in her other hand.
The pediment relief confirms the idea that the builder of this country house (Jacques de Mewen or a predecessor?) had a leading position in Maastricht.

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Tea houses with chronogram

On the two little gloriettes (=tea houses) in the garden we find the chronogram
sIt gaUDIUM rUrI - qUIbUs CUra traIeCtI which gives the year 1736 and can mean something like:

MAY THERE BE FREEDOM IN THE COUNTRYSIDE (or THEIR RETREAT) FOR THOSE WHO CARE FOR MAASTRICHT

or:

MAY THE ALDERMEN OF MAASTRICHT HAVE A PLEASANT STAY IN THEIR COUNTRY RETREAT BUITEN

of:

ALDERMEN OF MAASTRICHT, HAVE FUN WITH THE FARMERS

(translations: Ben Bongers)

The text refers to a well-known theme from Roman poetry, which contrasted city life full of worries with the quiet countryside, at least for those who did not have to earn their living as a farmer there. In the 18th century it fitted perfectly into the spirit of the times. Wasn't it Marie-Antoinette who had an idyllic little farm built in the palace garden to play at being a shepherdess?
It was also customary at the time for prominent families to own a country house for pleasant relaxation and to receive guests, a so-called maison de plaisance. In 1733 this country house - then still called the great Kanjel - was in the possession of Jacques de Mewen, who had it renovated in 1736 and had the year recorded in a chronogram.

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