Studio of Jan Brueghel the Elder Brussels 1568 - 1625 Antwerp

Believed by the present owner to have been in his family for many generations.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The copper panel is in good condition. The paint surface is generally sound with exception of some small areas needing consolidating. Some small paint loss and abrasion has been retouched out. The removal of the discoloured varnish will improve tonality."
"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."

The form of Peeter Stas' mark on the reverse dates this copper plate to between 1603-06 and it is therefore probable that this studio copy can be dated within that timespan. It is extremely unusual for a student of Brueghel to be working on a plate made by the leading coppersmith in Antwerp; Stas coppers were expensive and usually the reserve of only the master himself.

Brueghel's prototype for this copy was executed in 1601 and is today in the Betty and David M. Koetser Foundation, Zurich.¹  There is another copy in Kassel, Gemäldegalerie,² which is currently attributed to Anton Mozart (1573-1625), a german miniaturist who was an almost exact contemporary of Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) .

1.  See K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere, Cologne 1979, p. 570, cat. no. 79, reproduced fig. 188.
2.  See B. Schnackenburg, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Gesamtkatalog, vol. I, Mainz 1996, pp. 71-72, reproduced vol. II, plate 23.