Property of a Distinguished East Coast Collector
Portrait of a Woman in Profile, Holding a Jug; Portrait of a Man Smoking
Auction Closed
May 22, 04:23 PM GMT
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property of a Distinguished East Coast Collector
Gerard Ter Borch
Zwolle 1617 - 1681 Deventer
Portrait of a Woman in Profile, Holding a Jug;
Portrait of a Man Smoking
the latter signed lower left with monogram: GTB
oil on panel, a pair
each panel: 10 by 8 in.; 25.4 by 20.3 cm.
each framed: 14 by 11 ⅞ in.; 35.6 by 30.2 cm.
Sir Godfrey John Bewicke-Copley, 7th Lord Cromwell (1653-1709), Sprotbrough House, Yorkshire;
Thence by descent until sold ("The Property of Lord Cromwell"), London, Christie's, 8 July 1983, lot 13;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 9 July 2015, lot 194;
Where acquired by the present collector.
This charming pair is characteristic of Ter Borch’s earliest genre paintings, depicting half- or three-quarter length figures within dark interiors. The woman in profile relates closely to the female figure, also holding a glass and pitcher, in a painting dated circa 1650 in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier (inv. no. 836.4.69).1
These paintings were once in the collection of Sprotbrough Hall, Doncaster, which was rebuilt in 1685-1690 by Sir Godfrey Copley, 2nd Bt. Upon completion of the house, Sir Godfrey began to collect Dutch pictures, engravings, and books to compliment the vast collection of family portraits. Remarkably, the present pair of paintings remained in the family's collection for over two centuries until sold in 1983.
1 See S.J. Gudlaugsson, Katalog der gemälde Gerard Ter Borchs, The Hague 1960, vol. I, p. 98, cat. no. 79; vol. II, p. 239, reproduced fig. 79.
