Egbert Lievensz. van der Poel

Count Adam Gottlob von Moltke (10 November 1710 – 25 September 1792), Copenhagen, by 1756;
Thence by descent to Joachim Godske von Moltke (25 July 1746 – 5 October 1818), Prime Minister of Denmark, Copenhagen;
Thence by descent to Adam Wilhelm, Greve Moltke (25 August 1785 – 15 February 1864), Prime Minister of Denmark, Copenhagen;
Thence by descent to Frederik Georg Julius Moltke (27 February 1825 - 1 October 1875), Count of Bregentved, Copenhagen;
Thence by descent to Frederik Christian Moltke (20 August 1854 - 23 October 1936), Copenhagen, until at least 1900;
Acquired by the Grandparents of the present owner, circa 1950. 

G. Morell, Katalogue fer Gemäldesammlung Adam Gottlob Moltke, Amalienborg Palace, 1756, cat. nos. 47 and 48;
N.H. Weinwich, Udforlig raisoneret fortegnelse over en samling malerier i Kiobenhavn thilhorende Hs. Excellence Geheime Conferentsraad Greve F.C. Moltke, Copenhagen, 1818, cat. nos. 125 and 133;
N. Hoyen, Fortegnelse ober der Moltkeske Maleriesamling, 1841, cat. nos. 51 and 52;
N. Hoyen and K. Madsen, Fortegnelse over den Moltkeske Malerisamling, Copenhagen 1900, cat. nos. 101 and 102.

Egbert van der Poel painted a great many nocturns with conflagrations. He is perhaps best known for his recording of the aftermath of the Delft gunpowder explosion on October 12, 1654, which, notably, claimed the life of the great painter Carel Fabritius. 

Count Adam Gottlob Moltke (1710-1792), the earliest recorded owner of these paintings, was a Danish courtier, statesman and diplomat, and favorite of Frederick V of Denmark, while his son, Joachim Godske Moltke, and his grandson, Adam Wilhelm Moltke, later served as Prime Ministers of Denmark. Adam Gottlob Moltke entered the service of the Royal household at a young age, serving as a page to the Crown Prince Frederick, future Frederick V of Denmark-Norway. Upon his ascension to the throne in 1730, Frederick appointed Moltke as Lord Chamberlain, and continued to lavish honors upon him: Moltke became a member of the Privy Council; was granted the estate of Bregentved in 1747; and was created a count in 1750. Frederick led a profligate lifestyle and relied heavily on the able ministers in his service. Alongside Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Moltke led the progress of Danish commerce and industry. The king’s ministers also pursued a careful policy of avoiding involving Denmark in any European wars, remaining neutral even during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) despite the country’s proximity to Sweden and Russia. Following the death of Queen Louisa in 1751, Frederick was close to marrying one of Moltke’s daughters, but the count quickly declined this (somewhat dubious) honor and arranged for the marriage of the king to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, sister-in-law of Frederick the Great of Prussia. After the death of Frederick V, Moltke’s influence at court declined. He was dismissed from his various positions in July 1766 and retired to his estates at Bregentved, where he had amassed a large collection of pictures, including a significant number of seventeenth century Dutch pictures, four waterfall landscapes by Ruisdael, alongside works by Wouwermans, Hobbema, Metsu and Adriaen van Ostade. His collection was inherited by his son, Joachim Godske Moltke (1746-1818), who, like his father, played a prominent role in parliament, serving as a member of the Privy Council and as Prime Minister in 1814, the crucial year in which Denmark and Norway, which had been united under a single monarchy since the early-sixteenth century, split into two separate sovereign states. The Danish royal line remained in the Absolutist Oldenburg family, a situation which marked little change until the ascension of Frederick VII in 1848. Almost as soon as he succeeded to the throne, the Danish people petitioned for the institution of a Constitution. The new king accepted these requests, relinquishing his Absolute power and established a Danish parliament. The first Prime Minister under Denmark’s new constitutional monarchy was Joachim’s son, Adam Wilhelm Moltke (1785-1864).