Hendrick Gerritsz. Pot

The sitters, Jacob and Petronella van der Merckt, Amsterdam, until 1676;
Burgemeester Bors van Waveren, Amsterdam, who married about 1660 one of the three daughters of the sitters, also named Petronella, born about 1630;
Their daughter Jacoba Bors van Waveren (1666-1754), who married Abraham Ortt (1650-1691);
Their daughter Jacoba Elisabeth Ortt, who married G. Bors van Waveren, Amsterdam;
Van Eys, Amsterdam;
M. van Hoven van der Voort, great-great-great-granddaughter of the sitters;
Her nephew and niece Bock;
Jonkheer P.H.A. Martini Buys, Rotterdam, by circa 1905;
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller & Cie, 15 April 1947, lot 559;
R.Th. Bijleveld, Velp, by 1952;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 July 1995, lot 48;
There purchased by the present collector.

Rotterdam, Museum for History and Art, circa 1905 (lent by Jonkheer Martini Buys);
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Drie Eeuwen Portret in Nederland, 1952, nos. 128 and 129;
Arnhem, Gemeentemuseum, 17e Eeuwse Meesters uit Gelders Bezit, 1953, nos. 52 and 53;
On loan to Southampton Art Gallery, 1980-1995.

A. Bredius and P. Haverkorn Van Rijsewijk, "Hendrick Gerritsz. Pot", in Oud Holland, V, 1887, p. 173, cat. nos. XIII and XIV;
 E.W. Moes, Iconographia Batava, II, Amsterdam 1905, nos. 4969-1 and 9168-1;
 E. De Jongh, Portretten van echt en trouw, exhibition catalogue, Haarlem 1986, p. 32, reproduced p. 33, figs 20a and 20b (whereabouts unknown);
 P. ten-Doesschate Chu, in Im Lichte Hollands, exhibition catalogue, Basel 1987, p. 202, under cat.no. 75, note 7 (as whereabouts unknown);
M. Wieseman, Gerard ter Borch, exhibition catalogue, Washington 2004-5, p. 54, reproduced in black and white, fig. 2.

For a high resolution digital image, please refer to the online catalogue at Sothebys.com or contact a member of the Old Master Paintings department. The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. These paintings on panels are in remarkable condition. They are both painted on oak panels that are unreinforced and flat. Both are clean and varnished. The paint layers are stable. Although there may be a speck or two of retouch in both pictures, such as a dot in the ruff of the woman, the works are essentially in perfect condition. A fresh varnish may be appropriate.
"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."

The sitters are identified by labels written by M. van Hoven van der Voort (see Provenance) pasted to the backs of the panels, here transcribed respectively:

Dit is het portrait van/Jacob van der Merckt, die getrouwd is geweest met/Petronella Witsen, waarby/drie Dochter heeft gehad/een gehheeten Petronella, die/getrouwd is geweest aan de/burgemeester Bors van Waveren/mijn over, over, grootvader./ Dese Portrait maak ik aan/mijn neef en nichter Bock/... over over grootvader en moeder het ook is/M: van Hoven.../van der Voort;

Dit is het portrait... Pet../nella Witsen de vrouw van/Jacob van der Merckt¹

Jacob van der Merckt (1599-1653) was an Amsterdam merchant, who traded with Italy, the Levant and Greenland, and was the Regent of the Aalmoezenierweeshuis (Orphanage) in Amsterdam. He married Petronella Witsen (1602-1676) in 1628. Since the sitters are depicted here at approximately their ages then, 29 and 26 respectively, it is plausible to conclude that the present pictures are marriage portraits. 

Pot favored small-scale full length portraits such as the present examples. A similar pair of panels, of unidentified sitters, and of similar dimensions, were in the Adrian Hope collection, London, until his deceased sale, London, Christie's, 20 June 1894, lots 52A and B (as by Anthonie Palamedesz), after which they were split up. The male portrait is now lost, but the female portrait is in the Liechtenstein collection (inv. no. 901; see ten-Doesschate Chut, op. cit., p. 202, cat. no. 75, fig. 75a, reproduced in color, p. 203). The ex-Hope male portrait is very similar to the present male portrait: both are standing, full-length, in black, holding gloves in their right hand, with, to their right, a draped table on which sits a black hat. Beyond the table in each is a black (marble?) column on a white base on a black pedestal, which marks off the right hand edge of the composition. The same column, presumably a prop in Pot's studio, frames the left edge of the present portrait of Petronella Witsen, and the left edge of the Liechtenstein portrait. The female portraits differ in that Petronella Witsen is depicted standing by a leather-backed chair next to a draped table, whereas the Liechtenstein sitter is shown seated.


1. Translates: "This is a portrait of Jacob van Merck who was married to Petronella Witsen with whom he had three daugthers named Petronella, who married the burgemeester Bors van Waveren my great great grandfather I dedicate this portrait to my niece and nephew Bock Great great grandfather and mother and also is M. van Hoven van der Voort

This is a portrait of Pet...nella wife of Jacob van der Merckt"