Jacob Jordaens

Earl Fitzwilliam, United Kingdom, Wentworth Woodhouse, by 1854;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, June 11, 1948, lot 34;
With Agnew and Sons, London (according to a label on the reverse); 
Farkas collection by whom donated in 1952 as a wedding gift to the parents of the present owner.

Manchester, Art Treasures, 1857, no. 608 (according to a label on the reverse).

Dr. G. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain..., London 1854, p. 340;
Art Treasures, exhibition catalogue, Manchester 1857, cat. no. 608.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting on canvas has been mounted onto a panel which, in turn, has been reinforced in various ways on the reverse. The painting is slightly unstable at present and there are recent losses in the lower portion of the picture. It appears that approximately six inches of the painting beneath the hands of the figures is not original and if this picture were to be restored, it would be quite appropriate if this section were to be removed. The remainder of the picture shows some paint loss along a crack running vertically down the right side through the hand of the woman and in the forehead of the man. There is a good deal of dirty varnish on the picture and a fair amount of visible abrasion throughout that has been corrected with rather sloppy retouches in places. This picture needs to be thoroughly restored, yet after some effort, will emerge considerably transformed and brighter and sharper as a result.
"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."

Considering the popular nature of the subject matter of this painting, it is not surprising that Jordaens treated this composition on several occasions. There exists at least one other autograph version which is signed and of slightly larger size in the Liechtenstein collection¹ and another workshop version was auctioned in Mauerbach, Austria in 1996 and is now in a private collection.²

When the present painting appeared in the Fitzwilliam sale (see Provenance) it still measured 42 by 31 in., which is very close to the dimensions of the Liechtenstein picture.  It must have been subsequently cut and laid on panel.  The other known examples of this composition show the two figures at a window, while in the present painting they are set close to a doorway and more of their bodies are showing. The additions to the figures' bodies were painted on the 5 in. addition at the bottom.  

Jordaens was known to use the same models on several occasions throughout his career, and the female model in the present painting is recurrent in several works of which the most famous is the The King Drinks, in the Louvre.³ The same model is seated, turning her back to the viewer, and gazing towards us over her shoulder. Another painting in the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna⁴ representing a young woman bust length, again shows the same sitter. This recurrence of the same auburn-haired model in several of Jordaen's works helps us understand some of his and his studio's work practices.  It has been suggested that there could be some studio participation in the present painting. Just as Rubens and Rembrandt did, it is known that Jordaens would use members of his family as models. In this particular case, Julius Held, after studying the members of Jordaens family in great detail, concluded that the woman represented in this group of  pictures could very possibly be Jordaens' older daughter: Elisabeth. She would be approximately twenty years old which would then suggest a date of circa 1637 – 40 for these pictures.

The present painting which has long been off the market and has only very recently come to light enjoys a particularly prestigious provenance. As one can see from an old label on the back it was in the possession of Earl Fitzwilliam when it was loaned to the Treasures of Art in Great Britain exhibition in Manchester in 1857 (see Exhibition). In this exhibition it appears to have hung together with the Liechtenstein picture which was, at that time on loan from the collection of the Earl of Darnley . The paintings were no. 608 and no. 611 respectively, in the exhibition. When the picture was hanging in Wentworth Woodhouse it was seen by Waagen who at the time described it as " ... animated, brilliant, and transparent".  Among the other paintings Waagen listed in the house at the time we count, among others, several great pictures by Van Dyck of which the greatest picture of them all is the famous pictures of Thomas Wentworth, 1^st Earl of Strafford with his secretary Sir Phillip Mainwaring, today in the possession of the Trustees of the Rt. Hon. Olive, Countess Fitzwilliam's Chattels Settlement and Julliet Tadgell.  

 

 

 

1R.A d'Hulst, N. De Poorter, M. Vandenven, Jacob Jordaens, Exhibition Catalogue, Antwerp 1993, p. 176, reproduced.
2 Benefit Sale, Mauerbach, Christie's, 29 October 1996, lot 72.
3 R.A. d'Hulst, Jacob Jordaens, New York, 1982, p. 169, no. 139, illus
4 Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna inv. no. 640