Follower of Jan Griffier the Elder

The actual painting is less red and softer in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas has an old and little wobbly relining. No major damages are visible to the naked eye. The paint has been abraded in places, in particular in the green and brownish tones in the lower foreground, and in the centre background. Small discoloured retouchings can be observed throughout, e.g. in the foliage and flowers lower left, in the tree on the left, in the foliage and flowers centre right, in the bridge and houses in the background, and in the two magpies. The paint surface is covered with a thick and dirty layer of varnish. Inspection under Ultra-Violet light is partly impeded by the dirty varnish layer, but does confirm the aforesaid and reveals a few additional small scattered retouchings. Offered in a later carved gilt wood frame, in fair condition. (MW)
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The composition is inspired by a similar, signed painting by Jan Griffier the Elder of a turkey and other fowl in a park, in the Tate Gallery, London (inv. no. T04129). In particular the two ducks and their ducklings in the pond are closely repeated in the present work.