Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael Haarlem 1628/9 - 1682 Amsterdam

Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt ( 1714-1777), by whom purchased, 16 April 1756, for 10 gns. ('A landscape by Jacob van Ruisdael; very good example of the master. This picture was bought by Lord Harcourt, April 16, 1756 [£]10, 10s', see The Harcourt Papers, under Literature);
George Simon Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt (1736-1809);
William Harcourt, 3rd and last Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt (1742/3-1830);
Thence via the marriage of his great aunt, Martha (1715-1794) to George Vernon, later Venables-Vernon, 1st Lord Vernon, Baron of Kinderton (1709/10-1780), to their second son, Edward Venables-Vernon (1757-1847), created Vernon Harcourt by Royal licence on inheriting the Harcourt Estates in 1830;
George Granville Vernon-Harcourt, later Harcourt of Nuneham Courtenay (1785-1861);
Rev. William Vernon-Harcourt, later Harcourt (1789-1871);
Edward William Harcourt of Nuneham Courtenay and Stanton Harcourt (1825-1891);
Aubrey Harcourt, of Nuneham Park and Stanton Harcourt (1852-1904): 
Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (1827-1904);
Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt and Baron Nuneham of Nuneham-Courtenay (1863-1922);
William Edward Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt (1908-1979);
Thence by descent.

London, Royal Academy, 1880, no. 85 (lent by E.W. Harcourt).

Description of Nuneham-Courtenay in the county of Oxford, 1797, p. 31, 'a Landscape, by Ruysdael [sic], beautiful' , in The Eating Room;
Description of Nuneham-Courtenay in the county of Oxford, 1806, p. 19, 'a Landscape by Ruysdael [sic]', in The Eating Room;
J. Britton et al., The Beauties of England and Wales; or Delineations, topographical, historical and descriptive, of each county, London 1813, vol. XXII, part II, p. 274 (as Ruisdael with figures by Wouwerman);
J.P. Neale, Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, London 1820, vol. III, n.p. (as Ruisdael with figures by Wouwerman);
G.F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London 1857, p. 350 (as 'Jacob Ruysdael [sic].-1. Landscape with a small waterfall in the foreground.  A specimen of his pure feeling for nature, and very careful in execution...');
E.W. Harcourt, ed., The Harcourt Papers, 1880-1905, vol. 3, p. 232, 'no. 12. A Landscape, by Jacob van Ruysdael, very good example of the master...'
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné..., vol. IV, London 1912, p. 183, no. 579 ('Marsh in a Wood');
A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, vol. III, London 1914, p. 1183;
S. Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael - A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings, New Haven and London 2001, p. 318, cat. no. 424, reproduced.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a hard old lining probably from the early twentieth century and a strong, quite old stretcher. The restoration also probably dates back to that period, with yellowed varnish and discoloured, perhaps slightly unnecessarily extensive, retouching. This is mainly in the sky, as is frequently the case, and the lower landscape has also been rather less peremptorily cleaned. Much of the foliage and the beautiful detail of the foreground banks and undergrowth is quite well preserved, with some thinner patches, for instance to the right of the signature and just above the rocky hillock nearby, as well as some lighter wear in the more immediate foreground. There are a few darkened streaks of retouching in these parts, with one larger retouched knock at the left of the base edge. The sky has more widespread retouching mostly in the greyer underbelly of the clouds, while the denser white cloud crests remain in good condition. There is one quite large patch of retouching at the top of the central cloud, with a less concentrated area of smaller touches below it just above the central tree. Various other smaller patches of retouching can be seen in the greyer clouds and along the tree tops on the right. The horizon on the left also has some retouching, as have the clouds coming in from the middle of the left edge. The broad original brushwork of the blue sky to the left and at upper right is also streaked with strengthening retouchings, which are all recognisably purplish grey to the naked eye, as well as evident under UV. The harsh lining has inevitably affected the surface, but some aspects of the insensitive old restoration could be reversed, such as the excessive darkened retouching and the dim varnish that obscures the richness of the landscape details which remain rather well preserved. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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."

Dated by Slive to circa 1660, this is a mature work by Ruisdael.  The compositional type, with water in the foreground, rising, heavily wooded ground to one side and a largely open vista to the other can be found in other works by the artist of a similar date: Ford in a Wood painted in the early 1660s, in Urbana, Illinois, University of Illinois, Krannert Art Museum; and Herdsmen with Two Cows at the Edge of a Wood near a Grainfield, datable to the late 1650s or early 1660s, in an American private collection.¹

1  S. Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael - A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings, New Haven and London 2001, p. 323, no. 432, and p. 322, no. 431, respectively.