Johann Georg Platzer

Private collection, Vienna, by 1953;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 22 May 1963, lot 47, for £950;
Private collection, Vienna;
From where sold, Vienna, Dorotheum, 14 March 1978;
Anonymous sale ('Property from a South German Private Collection'), London, Sotheby's, 3 July 1991, lot 81, where acquired by the present owner.

Salzburg, Residenz, Osterreichische Meisterwerke aus Privatbesitz und Stiftsgalerie, 1969, cat. no. 54, reproduced in colour on the cover of the catalogue and (in detail) plate 25.

F. Tessmann, "Johann Georg Platzer, Die Eppaner Malerfamilie Platzer", in Der Schlern, vol. 27, Bolzano 1953, p. 296, fig. 3 (where illustrated with a pendant);
K. Plunger, Johann Georg Platzer, 1704-1761. Der Rokokomaler aus dem Überetsch. Eine Gedächtnisschrift zum 225. Todestag, Eppan 1986,  p. 46, cat. no. 6.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a fine strong copper panel. A board supporting it behind is not affixed. There are no dents, but perhaps just a faint bend in the upper right corner. The edge of the left side by the base corner has had narrow old retouching in the past. The extraordinarily unworn intact condition of the brushwork with its minute craquelure is testament of the respect almost invariably given to the artist's work. The minutiae even in the far distant landscape and in each silken fold are perfectly preserved, as is the pure undiminished colour. There are only one or two little old surface retouchings: on the chest of the central flirting lady, a small touch on the forehead of the lady looking out from behind her to the right, one by the knee of the seated man drinking centre left with one other small touch on the chest of the lady at his side. These are minimal touches, visible under ultra violet light and perhaps cosmetic. A narrow recent superficial scratch runs down from the top edge near the right corner parallel with the right edge for a little way, and there is some surface scuffing from the frame along the extreme outer edges. However these minute imperfections are of minimal significance in such a beautifully preserved painting. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"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."

Born into a family of painters in the southern Tyrol, Platzer was the leading exponent of the Austrian rococo style. He probably arrived in Vienna around 1726, and here he enrolled in the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. Together with his friend and contemporary Franz Christoph Janneck (1703-1761) he specialised in painting small-scale conversation pieces and allegorical works, remarkable for their precision of detail, colourful palette and lively brushwork. Platzer's almost miniaturist technique was perfectly suited to the medium of copper, which became his support of choice. 

This finely preserved copper is characteristic of Platzer's conversation pieces and genre scenes, which were evidently an important and popular part of his oeuvre. In works such as this he drew his inspiration from Dutch and Flemish 17th- and 18th- century works, and the Leiden fijnschilders in particular, as well as from the French rococo tradition of the early 18th century. Such themes provided him with ample opportunity to show off his skill in painting detail and contrasting textures, typically shown here by the rendition of the turkish carpet and different fabrics, which must have impressed and fascinated his patrons. Such works were often commissioned in pairs, and it is very interesting to note in this regard that the present work, when in private hands in Vienna in the 1950s, boasted a companion piece, described as 'A Musical party', in which a portrait of the artist's family was said to have been incoporated. The present whereabouts of that work are not currently known.

This painting will be included in Dr. Christina Pucher's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Johan Georg Platzer.