Sir Anthony van Dyck

Probably acquired by Andrew Fountaine (1808 -1874), Narford Hall, Norfolk;
By descent to his nephew Algernon Charles Fountaine (1851-1909), Narford Hall, Norfolk;
By whom sold (‘Pictures from the celebrated Fountaine Collection, removed from Narford Hall, Norfolk’), London, Christie’s, 7 July 1894, lot 9 (‘W. Dobson –Head of a Gentleman), for 48 guineas to Butler:
Charles Butler, Warren Wood, Hatfield, Hertfordshire;
His sale, London, Christie’s, 7 July 1911, lot 42 (‘W.Dobson – Head of Inigo
Jones’), for £110. 5s. to Balley;
Mrs. Elizabeth Holbrooke, Bladon Castle, Burton-on-Trent;
Her sale et. al., London, Christie’s, 6 May 1938, lot 13, £33 12s. to Read;
Sir Bruce Ingram (1877-1963), O.B.E., M.C., London, and Great Pednor Manor, Chesham, Bucks, by 1941;
By whose Executors sold, London, Sotheby’s, 11 March 1964, lot 11 (as Van Dyck) for £4,200 to Singer;
Possibly Mrs. Burchard, London, by 1965 (according to a label on the reverse of the frame);
With Matthias Komor, New York;
From whom purchased by the present collector.

London, Royal Academy, 1895, no. 36 (as Inigo Jones by Dobson);
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Flemish Art, 1300–1700, 1953–54, no. 439 (as by Van Dyck);
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, on loan, c. 1969– 1983 and again 1998 - 2000 (as Dobson).

A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, vol. I, London 1913, p. 288;
T. Borenius, ‘Addenda to the work of Van Dyck’, The Burlington Magazine, LXXIX, 1941, p. 203, pl. II A;
Catalogue of the exhibition,  Flemish Art, 1300–1700, London, Royal
Academy of Arts 1953–54, p. 119, no. 439;
E. Larsen, L’Opera completa di Van Dyck,2 vols, Milan 1980, vol. I, p. 94, no. 131 (as whereabouts unknown, datable to 1617–18);
E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony Van Dyck, 1988, vol. II, p. 54, no. 103 (incorrectly as oil on panel and in Munich, Alte Pinakothek).

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 work is in very good condition. It was originally painted on paper, which has subsequently been mounted onto canvas perhaps in the 18th, if not 17th, century. The work is well stretched and has been cleaned and retouched. In many respects, I think that the restoration serves the picture very well. There is a very attractive patina to the work presently, which should probably remain, and I find the retouches that have been added, almost exclusively in the dark background and slightly in the hair on the left, to be accurate and well applied. Running from left to right across the center, there is a slightly more visible line which may originally have been generated by a fold in the paper, but the texture of the work is very attractive, I think, and there is clearly no abrasion to any of the features in the face. It is possible that the background may have been slightly more sketchy and loose than we see today, and that the retouches have been applied to subdue this more rough texture. But I also think the abrasion is very often likely in works of this kind, and is certainly not a criticism of the condition. The work is in beautiful condition and should be hung in its current state.
"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."

Only very recently re-assessed and restored to its rightful place in Van Dyck’s oeuvre, this sketch has had a colorful and distinguished English provenance. When it was sold at auction in 1894 it came from the distinguished collections formed by the Fountaine family at Narford Hall in Norfolk. It was not marked in the auction catalogue, however, as one of the many paintings that had originally formed part of the remarkable collection at Narford begun by Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753) in the 18^th century. It is more likely therefore that it was an acquisition by his grandson Andrew Fountaine IV (1808-1874) the most significant collector in the family since that date.  It is particularly interesting to note that even by then the sketch bore a traditional(?) attribution to William Dobson (1611-1646), Van Dyck’s most important follower in England in the mid -17^th century. By the time its next owner, Charles Butler, had lent it to the Royal Academy exhibition the following year, the sitter had been identified as Inigo Jones (1573-1652), the pre-eminent architect, designer, connoisseur and arbiter artium of the court of King Charles I.  Comparison with Van Dyck’s portrait of Jones, painted around 1633 and today in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg,¹ or indeed with William Dobson’s own portrait of him, probably painted the following decade and today at Chiswick House in London,² render this identification unconvincing. Dobson’s own ad vivum sketch for this portrait also survives in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.³  Dobson’s broader and drier handling of paint in the latter does not suggest his authorship for the present canvas, and indeed by the time this sketch was shown in the great Flemish exhibition at London’s Royal Academy in 1953-54, at which time it belonged to the notable English collector Sir Bruce Ingram, Van Dyck’s authorship had been restored. The identification of the sitter as Inigo Jones was discounted. It is not easy, however, to assign this work a specific date. It does not appear to be a preliminary study for any extant work by Van Dyck, whether a portrait of more extended piece. The features and hair of the sitter do seem to suggest that he was English, and therefore the work may date from early in his English period, from the spring of 1632 onwards.

1. S.Barnes, N. de Poorter, O. Millar and H. Vey, Van Dyck. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London, 2004, p. 539, cat no. IV.142. reproduced.

2. Exhibited, London, National Portrait Gallery, William Dobson 1611-1646, 21 October 1983 – 8 January 1984, no. 27.

3. Ibid, p. 63, under no. 27, reproduced fig. 19.