Studio of Jacob Jordaens Antwerp 1593 - 1678

Walter P. Chrysler, Jr;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 14 January 1988, lot 78 (as Jacob Jordaens and Studio), where acquired by the present owner.

M. Jaffé, Jacob Jordaens, exh. cat., Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 29 November 1968 - 5 January 1969, under cat. no. 184 (as a production mostly by the Studio, with the ewer, the signature and date added by Jordaens himself).

ENGRAVED:
J.F. Pelstnick (see above).

This picture is a version, with some differences, of a painting by Jordaens in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.  The subject is from the annual Flemish celebration of the feast of the Epiphany.  When the feast begins, a 'King' is chosen by lot or by the discovery of a hidden bean in a portion of cake.  Jordaens has chosen to depict the moment during the feast when the 'king' raises a glass and all shout "the king drinks." The present version of the Brussels picture has a number of additional figures and an elaborate ewer has been added in the foreground.  These additional elements are included in the 1759 engraving of this composition by J.F Pelstnick which is also inscribed and dated 1639.  Based on this painting's relationship with the engraving, Suida Manning (see under Exhibited below) suggested that the present picture was actually the primary version of this composition.