JAN VERKOLJE THE ELDER | Portrait of Jacomina Le Pla, wife of a merchant

De Wildt collection, Amsterdam, by 1838 (inv. no. 26);

Thence by descent to Pieter Teding van Berkhout (1865-1935), Huis Boekenrode, Aerdenhout;

His sale, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller & Cie, 9 December 1930, lot 262;

Jonkheer J.H.E. van Lennep, Amsterdam, 1963;

By whom sold posthumously, Amsterdam, Christie's, 20 October 1980, lot 222, where acquired.

B. Lymant, Niederländische Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts, vol. 1: Porträt, exh. cat., Liesborn 1985, p. 38, reproduced;

H.-J. Raupp (ed.), Niederländische Malerei des. 17. Jahrhunderts der SØR Rusche-Sammlung, vol. I, Portraits, Münster/Hamburg/London 1995, p. 146, cat. no. 55, reproduced in colour;

W. Pijbes, M. Aarts, M. J. Bok et al, At Home in the Golden Age, exh. cat., Zwolle 2008, p. 94, cat. no. 87, reproduced in colour;

H. Bündge and L. Heese (eds), Gutes böses Geld. Eine Bildgeschichte der Ökonomie, exh. cat., Bielefeld and New York 2016, reproduced in colour p. 110.

According to the Dutch biographer Arnold Houbraken, Jan Verkolje was a self-taught child prodigy. A prolific portrait painter, he had access to rich and influential patrons, such as the present sitter. Jacomina Le Pla (1647-1681) married the Leiden merchant David van Royen (1625-1679) in 1666. Van Royen, Director of the 'Levantsche Koophandel ter Kramer', took a leading role in long-distance trade with the Eastern Mediterranean. The presence of the black attendant in this portrait also implies that the Van Royens had business connections further afield, and 'exotic' members of the household were a sought-after status symbol at this time.