Peter Rottermondt The Hague active 1639-1645

Surface of vellum somewhat uneven, particularly towards edges. Losses in margins, both top corners. Margin outside framing line trimmed at bottom. Small holes, bottom right corner and top centre. Partial brown paper backing strip around the edges, verso. Vellum surface very slightly dirty, particularly at edges, but less so than most vellum drawings of this period. Overall condition otherwise good and fresh. Sold in a carved and gilded frame.
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Only a handful of drawings by Rottermondt are known;  until now, his surviving oeuvre has consisted of three fully signed works (in Amsterdam, The Hague and Vienna), one more (in Amsterdam) which is signed, like this, with initials¹, and three further unsigned drawings that have appeared on the art market².  The most similar to this drawing in terms of style, scale and subject-matter is the fully signed Departure for a Falcon Hunt, in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.³  The present substantial, unpublished drawing, signed with initials, is therefore a significant addition to the small body of known works by this idiosyncratic but appealing draughtsman.

Secure facts concerning the artist's career are about as scarce as his drawings:  he is known to have contributed a sketch to the Album Amicorum de Kempenaer in 1628, to have been a member of the Hague painters' guild in 1639, and to have visited England in 1643, but otherwise his biography remains to be established. 

1 W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, vol. 10, New York 1992, nos. 2288-2291

2 Sold Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 2 November 2004, lot 57 and 16 November 2005, lot 66, and Amsterdam, Christie's, 10 November 1999, lot 338

3 Sumowski no. 2291