Property from the Collection of Saam and Lily Nijstad
Michiel van Musscher
An interior scene with Eva Visscher (1661–1684), the artist’s first wife, with a child in her lap and another child in a cot, most likely Catarina (March 1680 – August 1681) and Johannis (b. February 1682)
Auction Closed
July 1, 07:41 PM GMT
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Collection of Saam and Lily Nijstad
Michiel van Musscher
Rotterdam 1645–1705 Amsterdam
An interior scene with Eva Visscher (1661–1684), the artist’s first wife, with a child in her lap and another child in a cot, most likely Catarina (March 1680 – August 1681) and Johannis (b. February 1682)
signed and dated lower left: ML v: Muſſcher. Pinxt:/ Ao: 1683. 3/30
oil on canvas
unframed: 50 x 41.4 cm.; 19⅝ x 16¼ in.
framed: 67 x 58.1 cm.; 26⅜ x 22⅞ in.
In the collection of the artist, Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705), Amsterdam;
His posthumous sale, Amsterdam, J.P. Zomer, 21 April 1706, lot 1 (as 'Een Vrouwtje met een Kind op haer Schoot, en een zittende in de Wieg, (Konſtig Geſschildert) van M. v. Muſſcher');
Probably Jonas Witsen (1676–1715), Amsterdam;
Presumably his posthumous sale, Amsterdam, 23 March 1717, lot 7 (as 'Een Vrouwtje met 2 Kindertjes in een Kamertje, van Muſſcher');
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Schley, 13 July 1812, lot 74;
Duc d'Arenberg;
With Martin Asscher, by 1958 (both the above according to mounts at the Witt Library);
Acquired by Saam and Lily Nijstad before 1990.
Probably Amsterdam, Museum Van Loon, Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705): De weelde van de Gouden Eeuw, 9 March – 10 June 2012;
Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, Portret in portret in de Nederlandse kunst 1550–2012, 9 December 2012 – 8 April 2013, no. 35.
G. Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderijen met derzelver Prysen zedert den 22. Augusti 1752 tot den 21. November 1768, vol. I, The Hague 1752, p. 89 (the date of the Van Musscher sale wrongly given as 12 April 1706) and probably p. 205 (the Jonas Witsen sale);
Probably A. Bredius and O. Hirschmann, Künstler-Inventare: Urkunden zur Geschichte der holländischen Kunst des XVIten, XVIIten und XVIIIten Jahrhunderts, vol. III, The Hague 1917, p. 990, no. 49 ('Het pourtret van de rendants eerste vrouw en kinderen');
S. Nijstad, Saam's Trio, Deventer 2009, pp. 27–32, reproduced in colour p. 28;
R.E. Gerhardt, 'Het oeuvre van Michiel van Musscher', in Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705): De weelde van de Gouden Eeuw, T. Grever, R.E. Gerhardt and F. Griep-Quint (eds), Zwolle 2012, pp. 38–40, reproduced in colour p. 39, fig. 35 and p. 40, fig. 36 (detail);
F. Griep-Quint, 'De reputatie van Michiel van Musscher door de eeuwen: Een verborgen meester?', in Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705): De weelde van de Gouden Eeuw, T. Grever, R.E. Gerhardt and F. Griep-Quint (eds), Zwolle 2012, p. 72, reproduced in colour p. 73;
A. de Vries, 'Het "portret in portret" in kunstenaarsvoorstellingen', in Portret in portret in de Nederlandse kunst 1550–2012, A. de Vries and S. Craft-Giepmans (eds), exh. cat., Bussum 2012, pp. 22–23;
E. Dullaart, in Portret in portret in de Nederlandse kunst 1550–2012, A. de Vries and S. Craft-Giepmans (eds), exh. cat., Bussum 2012, p. 146, fig. 35, reproduced in colour p. 147;
J.H. Decker, in De kunst van het opvoeden, J. Fila, J.J.H. Decker and Y. Wildschut (eds), exh. cat., Dordrecht 2013, pp. 6–7 and 127, reproduced in colour fig. 1;
R.E. Gerhardt, 'Rediscovered portraits clarifying the family of Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705), and the preliminary development of his masterpiece, "The Family of the Painter"', Oud Holland, vol. 129, no. 1, 2016, p. 35, n. 1.