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Lot Essay
Few documents exist to chronicle the life of Daniel de Koninck although he is recorded as coming from a well-known family of artists and jewellers (A. Bredius, Künstler-Inventare, 1915-1922, pp.149-56). From 1687-90 he was apprenticed to his uncle, Jacob, at that time an artist at the court in Copenhagen, Denmark, but in 1690, at the age of twenty-two, he moved to England where he specialized as a portraitist, and painter of tronies in the manner of Rembrandt.
It is probable that the present work was executed in response to the popularity of Rembrandt's paintings, which were already present in English collections by the end of the 17th century. As early as 1629 King Charles I owned several paintings by Rembrandt, and with the reign of William of Orange, artists working in Rembrandt's style found ready acceptance with English patrons. The present work may be compared to a signed Portrait of Rembrandt by Koninck which was long thought to be a lost self-portrait by Rembrandt previously known only from a mezzotint by the English engraver G. Graham (active 1785-1813). That painting is datable to the artist's maturity at the beginning of the eighteenth century (see the catalogue of the exhibition, Rembrandt's Academy, Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, The Hague, Feb 4-May 2, 1992, no. 25, pp. 200-203). His last known work, signed and dated 1720 and depicting the Lord Chancellor, Peter King, 1st Baron King of Ockham, is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, Inv. no. 470.
In private correspondence of August 30, 1994, Professor Werner Sumowski acknowledges the present work as an important work by the artist, which he intends to publish at some future date.
It is probable that the present work was executed in response to the popularity of Rembrandt's paintings, which were already present in English collections by the end of the 17th century. As early as 1629 King Charles I owned several paintings by Rembrandt, and with the reign of William of Orange, artists working in Rembrandt's style found ready acceptance with English patrons. The present work may be compared to a signed Portrait of Rembrandt by Koninck which was long thought to be a lost self-portrait by Rembrandt previously known only from a mezzotint by the English engraver G. Graham (active 1785-1813). That painting is datable to the artist's maturity at the beginning of the eighteenth century (see the catalogue of the exhibition, Rembrandt's Academy, Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, The Hague, Feb 4-May 2, 1992, no. 25, pp. 200-203). His last known work, signed and dated 1720 and depicting the Lord Chancellor, Peter King, 1st Baron King of Ockham, is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, Inv. no. 470.
In private correspondence of August 30, 1994, Professor Werner Sumowski acknowledges the present work as an important work by the artist, which he intends to publish at some future date.