Jakob Bogdány

With Maurice Segoura, Paris, 1988.

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. These painting have been fairly recently restored and although there are some elements to the works which could be improved with further restoration, they are also extremely presentable as is. The composition with the peacock standing in the upper center has a visible streak of milky substance running horizontally through the tail of the peacock and through the masonry on which it sits. This is only on the surface and can be removed. The canvases have both been lined and the linings are very successful. The composition with the peacock shows an original canvas join running from left to right through the center but the other painting is made only from one piece of canvas. The canvases are in very good condition. Retouches have been applied along the canvas join of the composition with the peacock and to a few areas here and there throughout the image. None of these retouches are in any way alarming or indication of a condition issue. The only structural damage with this painting is a vertical tear in the upper center beginning in the back and wing of the large peacock and entering into the sky above the bird’s back; this runs for approximately 10 inches in length. As one would expect from a work of this period, some slight thinness has developed here and there in the darkest glazes, for instance in the thinnest glazes of the back of the duck on the far right. Some of the darkest colors are weak and could be strengthened slightly with restoration In general however the condition generally is impressive. The other painting is in similar condition to its mate. There are no structural damages here however. As with its mate, there are a few retouches which have been applied to address thinness in the darkest colors. The condition here is slightly better than the other painting yet neither of them are in overly compromised condition and this painting particularly is in marvelous condition.
"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."

In his paintings of domestic and exotic fowl in grandiose garden settings, of which the present pair is a particularly large and impressive example, Bogdány was very consciously following in the tradition of Melchior d'Hondecoeter. Bogdány would have been familiar with Hondecoeter's work during his residence in Amsterdam between 1684 and 1686. Such influences can be seen not only in the more obvious choice of animal subject matter, but also in the inclusion of other more subtle compositional motifs, such as the ornamental fountain seen in one picture here, which Hondecoeter also employed on occasion. The use of similar fountains occurs in other works from Bogdány's oeuvre, for instance in a picture hanging in the Fitzwilliam Muuseum, Cambridge (acc. no. PD.111-1992).

Following his time in Amsterdam, Bogdány settled in London, where his interest in birds was cultivated through his access to the remarkable collection of exotic birds owned by Admiral George Churchill (1653-1710), which were kept in an aviary in the Little Park at Windsor. Such access allowed Bogdány the time to study and perfect his depictions of the anatomy of various species of birds, the results of which are masterfully demonstrated in this imposing set of works. Many of the birds shown here reoccur with variations in other examples from this period. The Red Crested cockatoo appears in another composition of slightly smaller dimensions which was sold Christie's London, April 27, 1995, lot 111. A very similar blue peacock, shown in reverse, reappears in a painting of comparable format which was sold Christie's London, December 11, 1992, lot 41. Yet another example can be found in the sand piper, shown here at bottom center with a worm in its beak, which was also used in a composition formerly exhibited at Richard Green, London (see Jacob Bogdani, c.1660-1724, exhibition catalogue, London, 1989, no. 29).