Willem van Mieris Leiden 1662 - 1747

Johan Hendrik Graaf van Wassenaer Obdam (1683-1745), Kneuterdijk, The Hague;
His sale, The Hague, De Hondt, 19 August 1750, lot 63, for 28 guilders;
Where acquired by his brother Unico Wilhelm Graaf van Wassenaer Obdam (1692-1766);
Thence by inheritance to his wife Dodonea Lucia van Goslinga (1702-1769), The Hague, until sold Amsterdam, Posthumus, 25 October 1769, lot 48, for 50 guilders.

G. Hoet, Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met dezelver pryzen zedert een langen reeks van jaaren zoo in Holland als op andere plaatzen in het openbaar verkogt: Benevens een Verzameling van lysten van verscheyden nog in wezen zynde cabinetten, The Hague 1752, p. 294, no. 63;
P. Terwesten, Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met dezelver prysen, zedert 1752 tot 1768 openbaar verkogt: Dienende tot een vervolg op de cataloquen door Gerard Hoet, The Hague 1770, no. 48;
C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches verzeichnis der werke der hervorragendsten Holländischen Maler des XVII jahrhunderts, Stuttgart, Paris, London, 1928, vol. X, p. 180, no. 285.

In the first half of the eighteenth century, Johan Hendrik Graaf van Wassenaer Obdam (1683-1745) assembled a fabulous art collection. It consisted of 123 paintings, including eleven works by Rembrandt, eighteen by Van Ostade, thirteen by Willem van Mieris, others by Brueghel, Potter, Rubens, Wouwerman, Steen, Metsu, Dou, Van der Werff and Hardimé. Furthermore he was an avid collector of drawings, books, objects of vertu and rarities. The collection was housed in his city palace at the Kneuterdijk in The Hague, opposite the Mauritshuis and the Dutch seat of government. The lavish costs associated with the construction of the palace, designed in 1717 by Daniël Marot (1661-1752), led to the bankruptcy of the Graaf and eventually to the sale of his famous collection. Five years after his death the collection and Kneuterdijk palace were sold at auction. His brother Unico Wilhelm Graaf van Wassenaer Obdam (1692-1766) bought the house and the greater part of the collection including the present lot. Unico was married to Dodonea Lucia van Goslinga (1702-1769) and after her death the estate and their collection were sold. In 1816 the Kneuterdijk palace was bought by King William I (1772-1843) for his son, the later King William II (1792-1849), and formed the latter's principal residence until his coronation.