Cornelis de Man

In the possession of the same family since at least the first half of the 19th century until sold, anonymous sale ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Sotheby's, 10 April 2003, lot 41, where acquired by the present owner.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas has been lined and the paint surface is stable and flat with the texture well preserved. There are small repaired damages diagonally across the top right corner, to the right of the blue and white urn and to the right hand edge, through the commode. One or two minor losses can be seen elsewhere. Under ultraviolet light an older patchy varnish can be detected along with pin prick restorations to the seated woman (to reduce shrinkage cracks), the dog and cat, the flagstone floor (to reduce prominent canvas weave) and the white cloth on the table, right. Overall, the painting is in a good original condition. The paint texture, including the impastoed areas, are well preserved and the colours are fresh and saturate well. Removing the discoloured varnish would improve the tonality. Offered in a plain oak wood frame with corner gilding, in good condition."
"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."

Formerly attributed to Pieter de Hooch, this interior scene is in fact a late work by one of his rarer Delft contemporaries. According to Houbraken, de Man settled in Delft after a lengthy sojourn in France and Italy between 1642 and 1654.¹ In Delft he served thirteen times as hoofdman of the painters Guild between1657 and 1696.² Initially a painter of portraits, he increasingly turned after about 1660 to church interiors and the genre pieces for which he is best known today. His earliest essays in this vein are akin to those of his Haarlem contemporary Jan Miense Molenaer, but his later work such as this is firmly rooted in the Delft tradition then being established by Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer. De Man's interest in the orderly depiction of interior space in this painting, for example, clearly reveals his awareness of his younger townsmen.

In this work, de Man depicts a wealthy young couple with their servants(?) in a richly appointed interior. The feature of the prominent mantelpiece in the left of the composition seems to have been a favourite with de Man, and both this and the figure of the boy with the log basket recurs in the Gold Weigher of circa 1670-75 sold New York, Sothebys, 30 January 1998, lot 30.³ Using similar objects and settings in different paintings is characteristic of de Man, as we often see him depicting the same interior, albeit with different features, either from the same or from another viewpoint. The smaller scale of the figures and the more elaborate interior perspective in this painting is similarly reminiscent of de Man's other treatment of the same subject, the Old Gold Weigher formerly with Gaston Neumans, Paris ⁴ and both may be later works. Although de Man did on occasion introduce objects of symbolic significance into his pictures, there is nothing in this painting which suggests that he was overly critical of its burgerlijk comforts. The fighting dog and cat and the caged bird offer the only hints of possible discord in this orderly household.

1. A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, The Hague 1718-21, reprint Maastricht 1944, vol. II, pp. 78-9.
2. F.D.O. Obreen, Archief voor Nederlandsche Kunstgeschiedenis, vol. I, Rotterdam 1877-1890, pp. 1-3, 6, 68.
3. Reproduced in the catalogue of the exhibition, Masters of Seventeenth Century Dutch genre painting, London, Royal Academy, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 1984, no. 69, plate 118.
4. Reproduced, ibid., p. 247, fig. 3.