Abraham Pietersz. van Calraet Dordrecht 1642 - 1722

Probably John Rolle-Walter (died 1779) or his nephew Lord Rolle, 1st Bt. of the 2nd creation;
By inheritance at Bicton, Deven to the Rt. Hon. Lord Clinton.
His sale, London, Sotheby’s, 19 July 1950, lot 29, for £480 to Slatter (as "Cuyp");
With Eugene Slatter, London, by 1951(as by Abraham van Calraet);
With Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam, by 1952;
With Alfred Brod, London, 1959.

Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary, National exhibition of works of art at Leeds, 1868-9, cat. no. 898, lent ny Matthew Anderson (as Aelbert Cuyp);
London, E. Slatter, Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Masters, 30 April - 7 July 1951, cat. no. 18;
Delft, Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, VI^e Oude Kunst- en Antiekbeurs der vereniging van handelaren in Oude Kunst in Nederland, 27 August - 17 September 1952, p. 51(both the above as by Abraham van Calraet).

C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke..., vol. II 1907-10, p. 57, no. 167d;
A.D. Chong, Aelbert Cuyp and the meanings of landscape, New York University 1992, p. 512, cat. no. Calr 18.

We are grateful to Marijke de Kinkelder, Alan Chong and Sander Paarlberg for confirming the attribution to Van Calraet on the basis of photographs.

This town view of Dordrecht is a typical example of Van Calraet’s cityscapes, and comes close to several other painting of this type, including the View of a Town on a River, at Petworth House, National Trust, (see Alan Chong under Literature, cat. no. Calr 10).
The Nieuwbrug, as depicted here, was constructed in 1698, and not in 1631, as is inscribed on one of the pillars. The Oude Haven, today the Voorstraats- and Wijnhaven, was the only natural harbour in town. The tower in the background is that of the Groothoofdspoort, the main entrance gate of Dordrecht.

Calraet frequently based his compositions on the paintings of his townsman and presumed teacher Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691). Sander Paarlberg suggested that this also may be the case for the present view of Dordrecht. The original by Cuyp however, is not known to us, and it is more likely that the composition is Calraet's own.

The Rolle collection was almost entirely assembled by John Rolle-Walter (died 1779), brother of Henry Rolle, Bt., and his nephew, the first Lord Rolle of the 2nd creation (1750-1842).  The Clintons, to whom the collection passed by inheritance were connected with the Rolles through Margaret Rolle, a granddaughter of the 13th Baron Clinton, who succeeded to the Barony in her own right in 1760.  By the mid-19th Century the collection hung at Bicton in Devon, and remained there, relatively unknown (neither Smith nor Waagen knew of them) until the sale at Sotheby's in 1950, except for a few works that were sent on loan by Lady Rolle to the Leeds exhibition in 1868.

The collection was a classic mixture 18th Century view paintings, including two Vernets, a group of Zuccarellis and a fine Canaletto, and a larger group comprising a broad range of Dutch Old Masters, including a fine Jacob van Ruisdael and three Van Goyens, one of which was still in its original frame at the time of the 1950 sale.  Its greatest treasure, described by the auctioneer with characteristic modesty as an "incomparable rarity" was an unrecorded Rembrandt Flight into Egypt, signed and dated 1638, which sold for £10,000, but has since suffered a reversal of fortune, having slipped back into obscurity as a rejected work, waiting to be rediscovered all over again.