Hendrick Ter Brugghen

Mrs. A. Ashton Collection;
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, February 1, 1950, lot 23, as by Baburen to 'Dent;'
With Arcade Gallery, London, until 1956;
Private Collection, England, until 1958;
Benedict Nicolson, London (1914-1978);
Mr. and Mrs. J. Marzillier;
Anonymous sale, London, Bonhams, Knightsbridge, July 3, 1997, lot 117 as "Follower of Ter Brugghen;"
With Hall & Knight, London, by 1997, by whom sold to the present collector.

B. Nicolson, Ter Brugghen, London 1958, p. 104, under cat. no. A72, reproduced plate 108a, as by "a close follower of Ter Brugghen;"
B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford 1979, p. 101, as by "an imitator of Ter Brugghen;"
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1989, vol. I, p. 196, reproduced plate 1190, as by "an imitator of Ter Brugghen;"
L.J. Slatkes and W. Franits, The Paintings of Hendrick Ter Brugghen: Catalogue Raisonné, Philadelphia 2007, pp. 170-171, cat. no. A58, reproduced plate 57. 

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 oil on canvas has been lined and restored fairly recently. The paint layer is clean, varnished and has been retouched. Over the years the paint layer has become slightly thin and abraded, yet no more than one could reasonably expect. There are retouches which have been very accurately applied throughout in confined areas to diminish small losses and abrasions as they exist. The retouches however are not misleading; small pentimenti of the edge of the figure's white chemise and around his thumb holding the tankard are still visible and the retouches are very sympathetic. The picture looks well and could be hung as is; however, a careful further examination of the restoration would produce a slightly more polished image.
"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."

Boy in Profile, Drinking from a Tankard, may be dated to circa 1627-1628 based upon stylistic similarities between this and other securely dated autograph works of this period by Ter Brugghen.  The profile of the boy in this picture is closest to that of Jacob in Jacob Reproaching Laban (National Gallery, London, inv. no. 4164), which is dated 1627.  In both that and the present picture the profile of the subject is set off by a serrated beret.  Ter Brugghen also uses the same young model in profile as the subject in each version of Esau Selling his Birthright, (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, inv. no. 1982; and Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, inv. no. 1981.16) both of which were painted circa 1626-27. 

The subject of this painting, what the Dutch in the seventeenth century called a kannekijker, or, "drunkard," was a popular theme among Ter Brugghen's contemporaries in Holland, especially in Haarlem.¹ For example, Frans Hals employs the subject in his Two Laughing Boys, One with a Jug, of circa 1626-28 (now, Hofje van Aerden, Leerdam.)  Ter Brugghen himself also used the theme a few years earlier, albeit with a slightly older subject, in his Man with a Tankard and a Fish, now in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, inv. no. 11480.   

While it is difficult to understand how Benedict Nicolson, who owned Boy in Profile, Drinking from a tankard (see Provenance) did not recognize the picture's autograph nature, it is important to note that according to the "treatment and condition report" undertaken by Simon Folkes in November 1997, the surface of the present painting was "covered in a dark layer of yellow varnish," which had obscured the high quality of this work, so evident in its present state.  The removal of the varnish and subsequent cleaning of this picture, also in 1997, long after Nicolson's death, revealed not only a lively and fresh paint surface, but also numerous small pentimenti made to the original composition.  Ter Brugghen appears to have reduced both the width of the youth's upraised arm holding the jug, as well as the width of the white cloth running down across his chest.²  

We are grateful to Wayne Franits who has endorsed the attribution to Ter Brugghen based upon firsthand inspection.

1.  The literal translation of kannekijker is "one who looks into a drinking tankard."  See, L.J. Slatkes and W. Franits, The Paintings of Hendrick Ter Brugghen: Catalogue Raisonné, Philadelphia 2007, p. 171.
2.  See, Condition and Treatment Report from Simon Folkes, dated November 13, 1997.  Another possible reason for Nicolson's misattribution of the present picture to "an imitator of Ter Brugghen" may be in part due to the fact that Nicolson acquired the picture after he published it, and then "never got around to changing his view in print."  (See L.J. Slatkes