AFTER NICOLAES MAES | Old woman spinning

oil on panel A later copy after a painting by Nicolaes Maes, datable to 'circa' 1652–62, today in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. SK-C-176).1 The daily activities of women were commonly depicted in seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings. These scenes, such as the present work which shows a woman quietly absorbed in her spinning, illustrate the societal roles of women in the domestic space. 1 https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-C-176

All paintings available to view at the Sotheby’s Greenford Park warehouse, 5 - 7 and 10 – 13 September (10 - 4pm), by appointment. The panel is uncradled, flat and stable, the paint surface is quite dirty and the varnish is discoloured. There are scattered pin prick losses visible particularly in the brightest part of the background around the women, and in her shawl and apron, and frame abrasion is visible particularly along the left and upper margins. Inspection under ultraviolet light is impeded by the thick, milky varnish but reveals a handful of very small retouchings in the figure.
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