Gerard ter Borch

The actual portrait has more detail and definition than the illustration in the catalogue shows. The painting is in nice condition and may be hung in its present state. The flat panel is bevelled on all four sides. Ultraviolet reveals tiny retouches here and there, but mostly at the extreme left and bottom edges, which will in any case be obscured by the frame, and a few in the hair and costume of the sitter, and in the background. All of these retouches, however, have been applied well and no further work is recommended. In a wood frame with a gold insert, which is in turn inset into a larger carved and giltwood frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This miniature portrait most likely dates to early in Ter Borch's career.  It is similar in style and conception to the small portraits the artist painted circa 1646-48 during the negotiations leading up to the signing of the Treaty of Münster, an event which Ter Borch memorialized in his tour de force group portrait of 1648 depicting the event, now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.   Typically, Ter Borch keeps the dress and collar of this sitter simple and sets him against a dark background to emphasize his individual character and distinctive physiognomy.  In this portrait and others of that period, Ter Borch, as Alison McNeil Kettering points out, "took great care to render the [sitter's] locks as long and fluffy, delicate masses."¹  This Portrait of a Young Man is closest in its modeling and rectangular format to another Portrait of Man of circa 1647 formerly in the A. van Veen collection, Rotterdam.²  

 

1. See A.M. Kettering, Gerard Ter Borch And the Treaty of Münster, exhibition catalogue, The Hague 1998, p. 33.
2. See S.J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard Ter Borch, The Hague 1595, p. 217, cat. no. 48.