PIETER BRUEGHEL THE YOUNGER | 'The Quarrelsome Housewife', or 'The Scolding Woman and the Cackling Hen'

Philippe Vanderlinden, Brasschaat, acquired in the 1950s;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

The panel is formed of a single, flat, uncradled plank. The paint surface is relatively clean and the varnish is only slightly discoloured. Some parts of the paint surface have been built up more than others and the ground has become more visible in the more thinly painted areas. There is a small area of tenting lower centre and restoration to a small, old damage is visible on the centre left margin. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals two campaigns of retouching, the older one consisting of strengthening through the background, and the more recent one comprised of fine lines of strengthening in the woman's sleeves and in the man's apron. In overall good condition. Offered in a plain wooden frame.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Pieter Brueghel painted a large number of roundels on this scale depicting Flemish proverbs. Passed down within the collection of the same family during the 20^th century, this panel has never been published, and indeed is the first known painted example of this particular subject, otherwise found only in Jan Wierix’s print of circa 1568, after a presumed lost painting or drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.¹  Although some of the meanings of the Bruegel proverbs remain unclear to modern audiences, this image conveys a rather more blatant message – it depicts the old Flemish saying: 'T is 't huys geheel verdraeyt, waer t'haentje zwygt en 't hintje kraeyt ('the home is in turmoil when the rooster is silent and the hen crows'). The crowing hen mirrors the wife, while the man (and the rooster beside him) appear to endeavour to ignore her. A monkey – symbolic of vice, lust and general debasement – crouches in the background, ready to cause havoc.

Brueghel the Younger is known to have worked from his father’s drawings and to have made detailed drawings of his father’s works himself, which he and his studio would follow. The Outdoor Wedding Dance, formerly in the Coppée collection, for example, employs a combination of tracing and free-hand drawing.³ Infra-red reflectography reveals that the present composition was indeed also traced (pinprick marks along many of the lines indicate pouncing), with additional underdrawing consistent with that of the Brueghel workshop (fig. 1). 

1 See, for example, the engraving in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, inv. no. 46.21(23); see M. Sellink (ed.), Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The New Hollstein, Ouderkerk aan den IJssel 2006, p. 166, cat. no. A7, reproduced p. 170. Klaus Ertz included Wiericx's engraving of this subject for the sake of completion in his monograph on Pieter Brueghel the Younger, but stated that he knew no related works by the artist (see K. Ertz, Brueghel der Jüngere, Lingen 1988/2000, vol. 1, p. 114).
2 Wierix's engraving contains the quatrain: Femme qui tanse sans raison / Ne fait quenuÿ a la maison ('A woman who nags without reason doesn't do anything but make trouble at home'). Around the edge of the roundel is engraved, in Flemish: Een leeckende dack, ende een roockende schouwe, Ja daer de simme aenden heijrt sit en siet, Een craijende hinne, een kijfachtige vrouwe, Is ongheluck in Huijs ja quellinghe en vertriet. ('A leaking roof and a smoking chimney, yes, where the monkey sits at the hearth and looks around. A crowing hen, a scolding woman means bad luck in the house, yes, trouble and grief').
3 Sold London, Sotheby's, 9 July 2014, lot 12, for £1,538,500.