- 124
Jan van Kessel and Studio Antwerp 1626 - 1679
Description
- A tigress suckling her cubs, zebras, leopards and other beasts in a landscape with Porte Segore beyond;Bears, horses and antelope in a landscape with Cracow beyond; Herons and other waders in a landscape with Porto Bello beyond; Assorted birds including crows in a landscape with Corolino beyond; Bats in a stormy landscape with Cartagena beyond;Monkeys, giraffes and other beasts in a landscape with Domingo beyond
- all except the first numbered lower left: 160
- a set of six, all oil on copper
Provenance
Possibly in the Collection of Charles IV of Spain (1748-1819), inv. no. 160, until they were dispersed between 1808-1813;
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Sotheby's, 8 July 1992, lots 326, 327 and 328 (as Studio of Jan van Kessel).
Catalogue Note
These six works are slightly enlarged versions of the decorative copper plates inset into the frame of Van Kessel's 'Four Continents' in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.1 Representing America, Europe, Africa and Asia, each continent is made up of a large central plate surrounded by sixteen smaller plates of the same format as the present works and which can be identified by the cities depicted in the backgrounds. Despite erroneous inscriptions on the reverse of each of the present works, all but one belong to the continent America (The Bears and other animals in a landscape belong to Europe). A further set, also autograph, is in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.
1. Inv. nos. 1910-1913; K. Renger & C. Denk, Flamische malerei des Barock in der Alten Pinakothek, Munich 2002, pp. 241-245, reproduced.