Salomon van Ruysdael Naarden 1600/3 - 1670 Haarlem

In the collection of a noble German-Danish family, Brandenburg, by whom acquired between 1839 and 1840 on their honeymoon;
Thence by descent to F. von Bethmann-Hollweg, Hohenfinow near Eberswalde, Brandenburg, Germany, 1938 (the date of Stechow's first catalogue raisonné);
Thence by descent until......

W. Stechow, Salomon van Ruysdael, Berlin 1938, cat. nos. 76 and 77;
W. Stechow, Salomon van Ruysdael, revised ed., Berlin 1975, p. 79, cat. nos. 76 and 77.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. These two paintings are on slightly bevelled oak panels, each with a central joint that has been reglued with supporting blocks behind, in the same grain as the panel itself. They are both perfectly flat. River Landscape. Signed and dated with monogram 1633 at centre left. The painting has had a recent restoration and the reglued joint has been filled and retouched. There are slight ridges along the grain of the wood, mainly in the sky, occasionally with tiny lost old flakes along them minutely retouched, but the various little lines of retouching visible under UV appear generally to be cosmetic touches along the grain where it has become more evident naturally with increased transparency, or occasionally is faintly rubbed. These little touches are rather more numerous in the lower sky and there may be some strengthening touches along the horizon line, with a few in the water near the base edge, but overall the crisp detailed brushwork of the figures and foliage is finely preserved. Landscape with figures and a wagon by a house. Signed and dated with monogram and date 1633 at lower left. This painting also has a line of retouched filling along the central joint, and some scattered little touches along the grain in the sky although fewer than with the pendant. The lower landscape is exceedingly well preserved with even the sketchy liquid brushwork of the darker foreground unusually beautifully intact. 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."

These works are typical of their date.  The first is similar in composition to two oval river landscapes by Ruysdael, also dated 1633: one sold at Sotheby's in New York, 26 January 2007, lot 398; the other sold at Sotheby's in London, 8 July 1999, lot 16 (£250,000).  The second may be compared with another oval panel of 1633: a landscape with a wagon sold at Sotheby's in London, 26 April 2001, lot 70 (£100,000).  The latter two are on oval panels of identical size, and may, like the present two tondi, have been conceived as pendants.