Jan Siberechts

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 6 July 1988, lot 49;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 10 January 1990, lot 86;
With Galleria Caretto, Turin, 1990;
Acquired from the above by the present owner. 

Turin, Galleria Caretto, 31e Mostra Maestri Fiamminghi ed Olandesi del XVI-XVII secolo, November - December 1990, no. 21.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined, the stretcher is fragile.. The paint surface is stable but there are several restored damages , these include three diagonal tears, all restored . One running from the centre to lower left milkmaid, one from the windmill to the rider in a hat and one between these two from the centre to the brown cow. There are other significant restored losses and damages to the sky , upper right and foliage, left. Some of the thin paint layer has been augmented and some of the fine filigree of pale cracking reduced. There is a discoloured and opaque varnish."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Jan Siberechts is recorded as a member of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in the year 1648/9. He stayed in Antwerp until at least 1672, when he moved to England to paint topographical views of English country houses. During his Antwerp years he painted mostly landscapes with peasants and their cattle crossing streams; see, for example, A Cowherd passing a Horse and Cart in a Stream in the National Gallery, London.¹ The cart with the two female passengers is repeated in another painting by Siberechts in the collection of L. Douglas, London (Witt file, no. 2107a).

1. inv. no. NG2130 and datable to circa 1658; reproduced in C. Baker & T. Henry, The National Gallery. Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 1995, p. 627.