- 138
Jan Steen
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
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Description
- Jan Steen
- A tavern interior with people drinking and music-making
- signed lower left on the bench: JSteen (JS in ligature)
- oil on oak panel, the reverse with the black wax collector's seal of the Sykes family of Basildon Park
Provenance
Jan Danser Nijman (c. 1735 – 1797) Amsterdam;
His posthumous sale, Amsterdam, Philippus van der Schley, 16 August 1797, lot 236 to Gildemeester for 180 guilders, (where erroneously catalogued as on canvas);
Jan Gildemeester Jansz. (1744–1799), Amsterdam;
His posthumous sale, Amsterdam, v.d. Schley, 11 June 1800, lot 207, to 'Spruyt van Gendt' for 205 guilders (where erroneously catalogued as on canvas);
Sir Francis Sykes, 3rd Bt. (1799–1843);
By whom anonymously sold ('The property of a man of fashion'), London, Christie's, 25 June 1831, lot 115, for £57.15s (this and above according to Braun 1980);
Leonardus Klerk de Reus (1808–1892), The Hague;
Baron Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874), Frankfurt am Main and Vienna (acquired from the Leonardus Klerk de Reus collection, which he acquired en bloc in 1842 for 100,000 Gulden);
Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild (1836–1905), Vienna, by 1874;
Baron Albert von Rothschild (1844–1911), Vienna, by 1905;
Baron Alphonse Meyer de Rothschild (1878–1942), by 1911;
Confiscated from the above, 13 March 1938, thereafter removed to the Neue Hofburg, Vienna, and given the inventory number AR344 (as Gelage in einer Schänke);
Allocated to the Kunstmuseum Linz, 31 July 1940 (as In der Schenke);
In storage for the Kunstmuseum Linz at the Kremsmünster Monastery (inv. K951); Evacuated to the salt mines at Alt Ausee (inv. 2761);
Recovered by the Monuments Men and removed to the Munich Central Collecting Point (inv. 4024), 13 July 1945;
Repatriated to the Austrian government, 27 November 1945 (as Steen, a Party), and returned to Baroness Clarice de Rothschild in 1947;
With Frederic Mont, New York, 1948;
Walter Percy Chrysler Jr. (1909–1988), Warrenton, Virginia, by 1957;
With Newhouse Galleries, New York, 1959;
From whom acquired by Thomas Mellon Evans (1910–1997);
By whom sold, New York, Christie's, 22 May 1998, lot 33 (as circle of Jan Havicksz. Steen);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 9 December 2005, lot 167 (as circle of Jan Havicksz. Steen).
His posthumous sale, Amsterdam, Philippus van der Schley, 16 August 1797, lot 236 to Gildemeester for 180 guilders, (where erroneously catalogued as on canvas);
Jan Gildemeester Jansz. (1744–1799), Amsterdam;
His posthumous sale, Amsterdam, v.d. Schley, 11 June 1800, lot 207, to 'Spruyt van Gendt' for 205 guilders (where erroneously catalogued as on canvas);
Sir Francis Sykes, 3rd Bt. (1799–1843);
By whom anonymously sold ('The property of a man of fashion'), London, Christie's, 25 June 1831, lot 115, for £57.15s (this and above according to Braun 1980);
Leonardus Klerk de Reus (1808–1892), The Hague;
Baron Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874), Frankfurt am Main and Vienna (acquired from the Leonardus Klerk de Reus collection, which he acquired en bloc in 1842 for 100,000 Gulden);
Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild (1836–1905), Vienna, by 1874;
Baron Albert von Rothschild (1844–1911), Vienna, by 1905;
Baron Alphonse Meyer de Rothschild (1878–1942), by 1911;
Confiscated from the above, 13 March 1938, thereafter removed to the Neue Hofburg, Vienna, and given the inventory number AR344 (as Gelage in einer Schänke);
Allocated to the Kunstmuseum Linz, 31 July 1940 (as In der Schenke);
In storage for the Kunstmuseum Linz at the Kremsmünster Monastery (inv. K951); Evacuated to the salt mines at Alt Ausee (inv. 2761);
Recovered by the Monuments Men and removed to the Munich Central Collecting Point (inv. 4024), 13 July 1945;
Repatriated to the Austrian government, 27 November 1945 (as Steen, a Party), and returned to Baroness Clarice de Rothschild in 1947;
With Frederic Mont, New York, 1948;
Walter Percy Chrysler Jr. (1909–1988), Warrenton, Virginia, by 1957;
With Newhouse Galleries, New York, 1959;
From whom acquired by Thomas Mellon Evans (1910–1997);
By whom sold, New York, Christie's, 22 May 1998, lot 33 (as circle of Jan Havicksz. Steen);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 9 December 2005, lot 167 (as circle of Jan Havicksz. Steen).
Exhibited
Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham Museum of Art, and numerous other venues in the USA, An exhibition of Dutch, Flemish, and German paintings from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., January 1957 – June 1958.
Literature
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. IV, London 1837, p. 18, cat. no. 56 or 40; and Supplement, p. 513, cat. no. 104;
T. van Westrheene, Jan Steen. Études sur l'Art en Hollande, The Hague 1856, cat. no. 181 or 292;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. I, London 1907, p. 154, cat. no. 594 (as on canvas), or cat. nos 723, 838 or 838a;
B. Suida Manning, An exhibition of Dutch, Flemish, and German paintings from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Birmingham, Alabama, 1957, p. 30;
K. Braun, Alle tot nu toe bekende Schilderijen van Jan Steen, Rotterdam 1980, p. 172, cat. no. B-159, under 'Werken die ten onrechte aan Jan Steen werden of worden toegeschreven';
S. Lillie, Was einmal war: handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens, Vienna 2003, p. 1015;
B. Schwarz, Hitlers Museum : die Fotoalben Gemäldegalerie Linz : Dokumente zum "Führermuseum", Vienna 2004, pp. 109 and 230;
F. Kunth, Die Rothschild’schen Gemäldesammlungen in Wien, Böhlau 2006, pp. 216–17.
T. van Westrheene, Jan Steen. Études sur l'Art en Hollande, The Hague 1856, cat. no. 181 or 292;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. I, London 1907, p. 154, cat. no. 594 (as on canvas), or cat. nos 723, 838 or 838a;
B. Suida Manning, An exhibition of Dutch, Flemish, and German paintings from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Birmingham, Alabama, 1957, p. 30;
K. Braun, Alle tot nu toe bekende Schilderijen van Jan Steen, Rotterdam 1980, p. 172, cat. no. B-159, under 'Werken die ten onrechte aan Jan Steen werden of worden toegeschreven';
S. Lillie, Was einmal war: handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens, Vienna 2003, p. 1015;
B. Schwarz, Hitlers Museum : die Fotoalben Gemäldegalerie Linz : Dokumente zum "Führermuseum", Vienna 2004, pp. 109 and 230;
F. Kunth, Die Rothschild’schen Gemäldesammlungen in Wien, Böhlau 2006, pp. 216–17.
Condition
The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's:
The panel is uncradled and has a wax stamp and labels on the reverse.
The paint surface has an even varnish layer.
Inspection under ultra-violet light shows an opaque and discoloured varnish layer and several stages of retouching including older larger areas of retouching in the background and more recently applied spots and lines of retouching on the figures and in the foreground and background.
Overall the painting is in relatively good and stable condition.
The work is framed.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer of the RKD, The Hague, for endorsing the attribution to Jan Steen upon inspection of this painting in the original.
Braun lists several versions of this composition under works wrongfully attributed to Jan Steen. He identifies the present work as being the same as four of Hofstede de Groot's entries, the early provenance cannot therefore be listed with certainty.