Circle of Jacob Toorenvliet

Taylor collection (according to a stencil on the reverse);

Acquired by the grandparents of the present collector, New York, circa 1940;

Thence by descent to the present collector.

This work depicts a weatherworn man wearing tattered clothes who has nodded off after imbibing too generously from the earthenware vessel in his hands. A light source at left illuminates his wrinkled skin and coarse features, framed in profile beneath a wide-brimmed hat. The painting was likely intended to convey a moralizing message by illustrating the after-effects of intoxication: not only falling asleep, but also descending into poverty.

The present painting is closely related to a slightly larger autograph depiction of the composition last offered in 2010.¹ The creator of the present work appears to have been especially well-versed with Toorenvliet's fijnschilder, or "fine painting," technique. The precise technical dexterity of this approach is apparent in the deft touches that animate the image: the flickering light reflected on the lusterware; the individual stiches that attach the cloth patches to the man's overcoat; and the intricately rendered salt-and-pepper strands of hair.

We are grateful to Dr. Susanne H. Karau for her assistance cataloguing the present painting.

¹ London, Sotheby's, 29 April 2010, lot 122 (as Follower of Toorenvliet).