Dutch School, circa 1640-50

Sir Ernest Trollope Bt.;
By descent to Louisa Charlotte Campbell Trollope;
By descent to the present owner.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The shaped oak panel is in good condition; the paint surface is raised and unstable with some minor losses. The varnish is very discoloured and degraded and beneath this can be detected thinned paint to the shadows of the face which have been augmented, along with a pentiment to the sitter's right hand. Otherwise, in a good original and untouched condition with well preserved paint texture and impasto. Offered in a gilt wood frame in 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 enchanting small self-portrait of a young artist at his easel was painted towards the middle of the 17th century. The picture shows some similarities with the works of Gerard Dou (1613-1675) and his school in Leiden, but also draws parallels with artists from Rotterdam and its environs such as Hendrick Maertensz. Sorgh (1609-1670) and Jan Olis (1610-1676).

The informality of the portrait, in which the artist depicts himself seated sideways on the chair with his right arm resting nonchalantly on its back, is enhanced by the plain interior which is left wholly undefined. He looks up, as if suddenly woken from his reverie. This spontaneity and lack of ceremony recalls other Dutch and Flemish self-portraits of this time such as that of Cornelis Saftleven of 1626 in the Institut Néerlandais, Paris,¹ or that of David Teniers the Younger in Vienna² where the artist portrays himself with brush poised, amidst an array of used artist's equipment, in a studio inhabited by another roughly dressed painter.

1. H.J. Raupp, Untersuchungen zu Künstlerbildnis und Künstlerdarstellung in den Niederlanden im 17. Jahrhundert, Hildesheim 1984, pp. 126, 232, reproduced p. 418, fig. 70.
2. ibid, p. 42, reproduced p. 395, reproduced fig. 27.