GODFRIED SCHALCKEN | Boy holding a candle, perhaps to illuminate a Halloween mask

The Rt Hon. the Earl of Jersey, Osterley Park; By whom sold, London, Christie's, 15 July 1949, lot 168, with another in the lot, for 32 guineas to [Herbert] Bier;

Anonymous sale, Lucerne, Galerie Fischer, 21 January 1958;

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 31 October 1990, lot 17 (as attributed to Schalcken);

With Rafael Valls, London, 1990–91;

From whom acquired by the late husband of the present owner.

R. Valls, Recent Acquisitions, 1991, no. 35.

The following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Godfried Schalken Candle lit scene with boy Oil on panel, 10" x 6", approx. The oak panel is chamfered and in a very good condition. The paint layer is stable and secure. There are some fine, naturally occurring shrinkage cracks in the background revealing the reddish ground beneath. Removal of the discoloured varnish would improve the tonality of the image . Overall, the painting is in very good original condition with the paint texture and fine details intact.
"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."

In only a few pictures does Schalcken conceal – or nearly conceal – his light-source. The intended effect here is to silhouette the object that the boy holds with his left hand. It looks like an exotic fish with its myriad tiny teeth illuminated by the hidden flame, but it may be a pancake torn or cut to fool the viewer, or as has been suggested, a halloween mask. Several Dutch artists painted subjects like this, but perhaps the most relevant here is a non-candle-lit genre painting by Schalcken in which a boy in a window opening holds aloft a pancake cut with crude openings to represent eyes, a nose and a mouth.¹ 1 Hamburg, Kunsthalle, inv. no. 237; see T. Beherman, Godfried Schalcken, Paris 1988, p. 248, no. 155, reproduced.