Jan Fris

J. Danser Nijman, Amsterdam;
Macalester Loup, The Hague;
Henry Philip Hope (1774-1839), London;
Thence by descent to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope (1808-1862), London;
By whom bequeathed to his widow, Anne Adèle Bichat;
By whom bequeathed to her grandson, Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, (1866–1941) 8th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, in 1884;
With Asher Wertheimer, London, 1889;
With Duits, London;
Alfred Brod, 1956.

Providence 1964, no. 8;
New York, Finch College 1966, no. 11;
Birmingham, 1995, no. 6;
New Orleans 1997, no. 19;
Baltimore 1999, no. 18.

S. Nihom-Nijstad, Reflets du Siècle d'Or.  Tableaux Hollandaise du dix-septième siècle, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris 1983, p. 52;
New Orleans 1997, pp. 49-50, cat. no. 19, reproduced p. 50;
Baltimore 1999, pp. 48-49, cat. no. 18, reproduced p. 49.

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 oak panel is unreinforced. The reverse has been treated with wax. The panel is flat and the paint layer is stable. The surface is highly varnished. Under ultraviolet light, no retouches are visible except beneath the pipe on the side of the table. It is quite common for pictures like this to show retouches in the background and darker colors, and there are retouches here particularly. While the picture looks well in its current state, some retouches in these areas might become more apparent if it is cleaned.
"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."

These modest toebackje, or so-called tobacco still lifes, gained popularity in the Dutch Republic from the 1620s onward and compositions such as this constituted the greater part of Jan Fris’ output.   The earliest signed example by the artist, recorded with Nystad, Paris in 1960, dates to 1647 and he returned to the subject repeatedly throughout his career, into the early 1670s.¹  The artist’s toebackje are characterized by a simple, monochrome palette, subtly punctuated by the crisp white of the pipe and papers.  The artist included a German Westerwald earthenware jug, bearing the three Xs of the Amsterdam coat-of-arms and the pijpentest or brazier, specifically associated with the variety of Gouda pipe shown here.  Both the jug and brazier would be datable to circa 1640.

In her 1983 catalogue (see Literature), Saskia Nihom-Nijstad compares this painting with a signed panel at the Fondation Custodia, Paris.²  The Paris panel, though somewhat larger in size, measuring 16 1/8  by 12 3/8  in.; 41 by 32.5 cm., includes the same elements of smoking paraphernalia.   The present composition, however, differs in the inclusion of a deck of cards, piled in the background behind the pitcher.  This still life appears to be a simple allegory of leisure and humble recreation.  Yet the playing cards, coupled with the tobacco and pitcher, could be viewed as a warning against the vices of gambling, smoking and drinking.³

 

1.  F.G. Meijer and A. van der Willigen, A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-life Painters Working in Oils, 1525-1725, Leiden 2003, p. 85.
2.  S. Nihom-Nijstad, under Literature, cat. no. 30.
3.  New Orleans 1997, under Literature.