Cornelis Jacobsz. Delff

With Späth, Munich, 1929;
Anonymous sale, Lucerne, Galerie Fischer, 26 November 1996, lot 2010.

The actual painting is softer and less dark in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas is relined (wax). The paint surface appears to be in good condition, apart from a vertical repaired tear along the left edge, no major damages seem to be apparent. There is small frame abrasion visible to all edges. The paint surface has grown thin throughout, therefore some strengthening can be seen e.g., in the hair of the man to the right, in the face of the woman, in the woman in the background, in the dog and cat. Discoloured retouchings can be seen along the afore mentioned repaired tear. The paint surface is under a fine layer of dirt and discoloured varnish, and has a fine and dense cracquelure pattern. Inspection under Ultra Violet light is largely impeded by the thick and unevenly applied varnish layer, but it does reveal the afore mentioned strengthenings. Offered in a carved and gilt wood frame, a few chips. (ML)
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Cornelis Delff was the son of Jacob Willemsz. Delff the Elder (circa 1550-1601) and he initially studied under his father in Delft. He then moved to Haarlem where he worked under Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem (1562-1638), before returning to Delft in 1610 where he remained for the rest of his life.

Like his teacher Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Delff was amongst the first artists in the Northern Netherlands to paint kitchen and market scenes with large figures and sprawling still lifes, in the style of Pieter Aertsen (1507/8-1575). This painting, with the still-life tipped slightly forward, the peasant figures in the foreground, and the moralizing scene in the background is typical for much of Delff's early works, such as the one sold in these Rooms, 10 May 2005, lot 21.

After circa 1620 his compositions became more restrained and simplified, with fewer elements and without religious background scenes or any figures at all, of which the one sold, London, Sotheby's, 9 July 2008, lot 55, is a fine example. Another version of the present work with minor differences is in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.¹

1. See S.A. Sullivan, The Dutch Gamepiece, New Jersey 1984, reproduced fig. 11.