Jacob Cats

Sold in a modern wooden frame. Recently window mounted on japan paper. The sheet has possibly been slightly trimmed. There is some faint foxing, but otherwise the condition is good, the watercolour fresh.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The inscriptions on the reverse of this drawing, which are in Cats' own hand, indicate that the drawing was executed in its present form in July 1799, at the very end of Cats' life, on the basis of a previous drawing of 1790. The numbering, also in Cats' hand is, however, puzzling. As Jane Shoaf Turner has described,¹ somewhere between a quarter and a third of Cats' known drawings bear such numbers, and these are predominantly small-scale studies or relatively free monochrome sketches, rather than the artist's most elaborate and highly-finished works.  Turner suggests that the numbered drawings may have formed part of some kind of pattern-book, from which clients would select compositions and motifs to be worked up into finished drawings and watercolours. Taking Turner's work further, Leslie Schwarz has compiled an extensive inventory of such numbered drawings, from which it can be seen that there is a close correlation between their dates and the numbers that they bear.² From this sequence, however, one would have expected the number 377 to be associated with a drawing executed in 1782-84.  

1. J.S. Turner, 'Jacob Cats and the Identification of a "Pseudo-Goll van Franckenstein" Numbering System', in Master Drawings, XXVIII, no. 3 (Autumn 1990), pp. 323-331
2.  L.A. Schwartz, 'The 'Thoughts' ('Gedagten') of Jacob Cats (1741-1799).  Inscriptions on the numbered drawings of a prolific eighteenth-century draughtsman.  An addition to the list of Jane Shoaf Turner (1990),' in Delineavit et Sculpsit, 31 (December 2007), pp 57-77