Paulus van Liender

'Kraantje Lek' was built as an inn in 1542 and survives to this day, as a pancake restaurant. It is located in the village of Overveen (formerly Rockaers) at the base of the dunes, beside the old fishermen's path that led from the beach at Zandvoort to the Grote Markt in Haarlem. According to local legend, in 1623 Frans Hals painted his famous double portrait of 'Jonker Ramp' and his lady companion (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) in this very building. 

The 'Kraantje Lek' lay within the estate at Elswout, owned from 1781 until 1805 by Jacob Boreel, who had the park transformed into an English­-style landscape garden, which soon became a source of inspiration for many landscapists, notably Egbert van Drielst; a drawing by Van Drielst of Kraantje Lek was sold, London, Sotheby's, 8 July 2015, lot 196. A further pair of drawings by the Haarlem artist Cornelis van Noorde, showing Kraantje Lek and a company taking refreshments there, were sold in Amsterdam some years ago.¹

See also lot 318.

1. Sale, Amsterdam, Christie's, 18 November 1985, lot 178