REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN

Self Portrait with Plumed Cap and Lowered Sabre (B., Holl. 23; H. 110; BB. 34-B)

Details

REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN
Self Portrait with Plumed Cap and Lowered Sabre (B., Holl. 23; H. 110; BB. 34-B)
etching, 1634, on fine laid paper, watermark Arms of Wurtemberg, second state (of three), a remarkably fine impression of this extremely rare state (the plate was subsequently shaped to a more regular oval), with inky plate edges, without any discernible wear and with the delicate diagonal scratches to the right of the signature encountered only in the earliest impressions, with full rectangular margins, a slight horizontal crease below center, a few tiny and unobtrusive foxmarks, generally in exceptionally good condition
S. 5 3/8 x 4½in. (137 x 116mm.)
P. 5 1/8 x 4¼in. (129 x 106mm.)

Provenance

van der Schley (according to a note on Dr. Blum's old mat)
H.S. Theobald (L. 1375)
Dr. Albert W. Blum, his stamp verso (not in Lugt)

Lot Essay

Only a handful of impressions exist of the first state, depicting Rembrandt three-quarter length, in elaborate Oriental dress in a pose of swagger and self-confidence. The reduction of the plate in this, the second state, focuses the viewer's attention on the artist himself. Throughout his life Rembrandt showed an interest in the myth of Oriental splendor. Amsterdam in the Seventeenth Century was a major entrepôt for all manner of 'Oriental' artifacts, both manufactured and natural, which were widely collected.