Jan van Bijlert

French private collection;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby’s, 24 April 2008, lot 363 (as Attributed to Jan Bijlert).

The panel is cradled and beveled on all four sides; it is flat and stable. The paint surface has been well retained overall and there is very nice preservation of impasto and detail in the figure. Under ultraviolet light: there are scattered very small inpaints along the grain of the wood. Some of these are in the flesh tones including face, shoulder, arms and hands. There is one larger area of retouching along a vertical line at far upper left corner, possibly over an old scratch. These retouches have been well applied and painting is presentable as is. Offered in a faux ebony wood frame with gilt inner rim.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Unknown to him while compiling his catalogue raisonée of the artist, Paul Huys Janssen has since endorsed an attribution of this painting to Jan Bijlert.  Huys Janssen has suggested this panel may be the pendant the Bijlert's signed Girl with a Cat, now in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore and dated to circa 1635-1645.¹  The sitter in the Baltimore picture is depicted in a similar format and faces left, mirroring the present figure.

1.  P. Huys Janssen, Jan van Bijlert, 1597/98-1671, Amsterdam and Philadelphia 1998, p. 145, cat. no 123, reproduced plate 132.