Old Master Drawings

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Lot 158
  • 158

Jacob van Strij

Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jacob van Strij
  • rhine landscape with peasants working, after herman saftleven

  • Watercolour over traces of black chalk, within brown ink framing lines;
    inscribed, signed and dated in black chalk, verso: Roelofseck. / Herman Saftleven. f. A. Utrecht / Anno 1664 / na het orgeneele het welk berust by den / wel edele Heer Mr= Barthout van Slingelandt, vryheer van Slingeland en Goidschalxoord te Dordrecht. door Jacob van Stry 1784;
    bears numbering in brown ink, verso: 7

Provenance

"Pictura," Groningen (L.2028)

Condition

Stuck to relatively old backing sheet, top centre. A little very light foxing throughout, particularly towards edges of sheet. Otherwise exceptionally good and fresh.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

The painting after which Van Strij made this copy was one of a pair, sold at auction in 1999.1 Both these panels were dated 1664, and the one showing the same view as here was also inscribed on the reverse "Roelofseck."  The sale catalogue suggested that this should perhaps be interpreted as a misspelling of Rolandseck, south of Bonn, but comparison with other views of that location suggests that this view may in fact be a capriccio.

Van Strij's lengthy inscription on the verso provides significant, and previously unknown, provenance information for the Saftleven painting, which was then in the collection of one of the leading aristocratic families in the neighboorhood of Van Strij's native city of Dordrecht.  Other 17th-century pictures from local collections that he also copied included works by Gerard Ter Borch,2 Jan Both and Aelbert Cuyp.3  Many leading Dutch artists of the 18th century made high-quality watercolour copies such as this of earlier paintings, and these works are increasingly coming to be seen as interesting artistic creations in their own right.

1.  Sold, New York, Sotheby's, 28 May 1999, lot 129.  The paintings will be included as cat. nos. 133-A and 133-B in the forthcoming 2nd edition of Dr. Wolfgang Schulz's monograph on Herman Saftleven.
2.  Sold, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 22 November 1989, lot 243
3.  Both Amsterdams Historisch Museum, inv. A 10875 and 10873; see In helder licht. Abraham and Jacob van Strij, exh. cat., Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, and Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, 2000, cats. 207, 209