Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp

John George Weller-Poley (b. 1849), Boxted Hall, Suffolk, by 1908;

Thence by descent to Captain Edward Hallifax Weller-Poley (1879–1948), Boxted Hall, Suffolk;

By whom sold, London, Christie's, 12 July 1946, lot 99 (as attributed to Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp), for £29–8s.;

Where acquired by Samuel Hartveld (1878–1949), New York;

By whose Executors sold, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 15 November 1950, lot 43 (as Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp), for $450;

Where acquired by French and Co., New York (inv. no. 50125 on the panel's reverse);

Haig Depanian (1921–2006), Los Angeles, by 1952;

Anonymous sale ('Property of a Private Collector, California'), New York, Sotheby's, 3 June 1988, lot 34 (as Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp), for $24,200;

Where acquired by a private collector, New York;

By whom sold ('Property of a Private Collector, New York'), New York, Sotheby's, 9 June 2011, lot 68 (as Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp), for $43,750;

Where acquired by the present owner.

E. Farrer, Portraits in Suffolk Houses (West), London 1908, p. 40, no. 51;

A. Chong, Aelbert Cuyp and the Meanings of Landscape, dissertation, New York University 1992, p. 540, no. JC 57 (as Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp);

A. Chong, in Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (1594–1652), S. Paarlberg (ed.), exh. cat., Dordrecht 2002, p. 183, no. 99 (as Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp).

This fine portrait of a bearded man wearing a skullcap has been traditionally identified as the Mayor of Dordrecht. On account of the picture's date of execution, 1649, and the sitter's age of 64, both of which are inscribed at centre right, it is possible to suggest that the gentleman here depicted could be Coenraad Nicolaasz Ruysch (1585–1655), who was baptised on 31 March 1585. In addition to his duties as Mayor of Dordrecht, Ruysch was elected Knight of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Ferdinand III (1608–1657) on 22 April 1649, which may have prompted his commission of this portrait in the same year.