PHILIPS WOUWERMAN | Cavalry on the move, a fortification under siege beyond

Mr Barez, Paris;
Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully (1725–1779), Paris;
His sale, Paris, Remy, 2–14 May 1770, lot 16, for 4,001 francs to Donjeu (with pendant);
Jean Dubois (active 1768–89), Paris;
His sale, Paris, Lebrun, 31 March 1784, lot 41, for 7,000 francs to Verrier (with pendant);
Possibly Mr Morel, Paris;
His sale et al., Paris, Lebrun, 3 May 1786 (postponed from 19 April 1786), lot 64, for 7811 livres to Thomas-François Guerin (with pendant);
Mrs Bentley, London;
By whose Executors sold, London, Christie's, 28 June 1879, lot 49, for £236 to Lesser;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 27 May 1882, lot 72, for £157–10s. to Wertheimer;
Arthur Seymour, London;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 4 July 1896, lot 79, for £372–15s. to Colnaghi;
With P. & D. Colnaghi, London;
By whom sold on 13 August 1896, for £480 to Sedelmeyer;
With Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris;
By whom sold on 7 March 1903 for £480 to Gates;
John W. Gates, New York;
Thence by descent until sold, New York, Christie's, 13 January 1987, lot 130;
With Heide Hübner, Würzburg, 1987 (when advertised in Weltkunst, vol. 57, no. 18);
From whom acquired by the late husband of the present owner.

Paris, Galerie Sedelmeyer, Fourth series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters, 1897, no. 47.

J. Smith, A catalogue raisonné..., vol. I, London 1829, p. 224, cat. no. 79;
C. Blanc, Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles, vol. I, Paris 1861, p. 165;
C. Sedelmeyer, Catalogue of the Fourth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters, Paris 1897, p. 56, cat. no. 47, reproduced;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné..., vol. II, London 1909, p. 521, cat. no. 822;
B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619–1668), vol. 1, p. 284, cat. no. A284, reproduced vol. 2, plate 265. ENGRAVED
Pierre-Francois Beaumont (1719–1769), entitled Le Défile de Cavalerie.

The single oak panel is uncradled, flat and stable. The paint surface is relatively clean and the varnish slightly discoloured but even. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals small retouchings scattered in the sky, most densely in the upper half of the left margin, and in the darker tones along the horizon line in the centre. The foreground appears to remain largely untouched and the painting is in overall good condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This is a characteristic, atmospheric late work by Wouwerman, with a smoky sky, painted in warm tones of pink, yellow, grey and brown. Birgit Schumacher dates it to circa 1665.

Like many of Wouwerman's best pictures, this was in a series of collections in Paris in the latter part of the 18th century, and in particular it formed part of the celebrated cabinet of Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, where it was engraved by Beaumont. Lalive de Jully was a financier and a leading collector of his day, who patronised Greuze. Greuze's portrait of him is in the Kress collection at The National Gallery of Art, Washington.