View full screen - View 1 of Lot 602. A brace of rabbits and small birds with hunting equipment in a landscape.
602

Melchior d'Hondecoeter

A brace of rabbits and small birds with hunting equipment in a landscape

Property from the Estate of Alexis Gregory, sold to benefit the Alexis Gregory Foundation

601

602

603

Melchior d'Hondecoeter

Melchior d'Hondecoeter

A brace of rabbits and small birds with hunting equipment in a landscape

A brace of rabbits and small birds with hunting equipment in a landscape

Property from the Estate of Alexis Gregory, sold to benefit the Alexis Gregory Foundation

Melchior d'Hondecoeter

Utrecht 1636 - 1695 Amsterdam

A brace of rabbits and small birds with hunting equipment in a landscape 


signed with monogram upper left: Mdh.

oil on canvas, unframed

canvas: 23 1/2 by 19 1/4 in.; 59.7 by 49 cm. 

The canvas has an old glue relining. It is stable and planar. The paint layer has been very nicely preserved, with detailed brushwork and impasto intact, particularly in the fur of the rabbits. There is a very subtle craquelure pattern throughout that is not distracting. The colors remain vibrant and rich under an even, clear varnish. Under ultraviolet light one can see scattered pinpoint restorations in the background and along the edges, though few if any in the central components of the composition. This painting is in very good condition and is offered unframed.


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. 

Mr. Georges, Paris;
Edouard Warneck collection, Paris;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 26-27 May 1926, lot 50;
With S. Nystad, The Hague, by 1968
There acquired by a private New York collector;
By whom anonymously sold, New York, Sotheby's, 12 January 1989, lot 107;
There acquired. 
This elegant hunting still life likely dates to Hondecoeter's early years, while he was still in Amsterdam.  When Melchior's father, Gijsbert Hondecoeter, died in 1653, Melchior entered the studio and household of his uncle, Jan Baptist Weenix.  The compositional arrangement reflects Jan Baptist Weenix's paintings of the 1650s, most notably Weenix's 1652 Hunting Booty with a Swan, in the Bayerischen State Collection, Munich.  Hondecoeter employed the same pyramidal structure used by Weenix in many of his early hunting still lifes; the use of a classical landscape in the background is also inspired by the elder artist's Italianate pictures.   By the late 1660s, Hondecoeter would shift to painting scenes of live birds and animals almost exclusively.