ABRAHAM DANIELSZ. HONDIUS | An elegant party hunting heron; and An elegant hawking party at rest

Anonymous sale, London, Bonhams, 4 July 2012, lot 16;

Private collection, Scotland.

Abraham Hondius particularly excelled in his portrayals of hunts, which appear to have been influenced by Flemish painters such as Jan Fyt and Frans Snyders. These scenes often include favoured motifs that were repeated across a number of his paintings, such as the leaping hound that snaps at the heron in the former panel of the present pair. As Hondius was a prolific draughtsman, it is safe to assume that he kept a great number of chalk drawings that he returned to as studies for these paintings.