Flemish School 19th/20th Century

The present painting repeats in composition a work formerly in the collection of the New-York Historical Society and sold in these rooms on January 12, 1995, lot 25. 

In that sale the painting was attributed to Lucas Franchoys, the Younger. Gerard van Opstal was one of the most famous ivory carvers of the 17th Century.  Although trained in Brussels, he later moved to Antwerp and then finally to Paris at the request of Cardinal Richelieu for whom he worked; he became a French subject in 1660.  Van Opstal also worked in the service of Louis XIV.