Portrait of Wouter Gael (1600-1639), aged four, half-length, in an embroided black doublet, white ruff and black hat; and Portrait of Marijke Gael (1598-1645), aged six, half-length, in a black gown over a red dress, with a white lace collar and cuffs and a lace-edged, gold-embroidered red head-dress, a gold pomander in her right hand

Dr. Rudolf Ekkart in 'De Enkhuizer schilder Jan Claesz.', Oud Holland, iv, 1990 , pp. 180-218, nos. 3-4, suggests that the artist trained with Pieter or Aert Pietersz in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 1590s and, as far as can be established, confined himself entirely to portraiture. The earliest known attributable works are his portraits of Batholomeus van der Wiere and his wife painted in 1593 (Op. cit, p. 186, figs. 7 and 8) which clearly show the influence of Pieter and Aert Pietersz.

The artist's numerous portraits of children, like the present lot, form an important contribution to our knowledge of North Netherlandish children's portraiture in the very early seventeenth century as well as giving us an idea of the rich traditional costume of Enkhuizen at around the same date.

Dr. Rudolf Ekkart, on the basis of photographs, tentatively attributes the present lot to Jan Claesz., although he notes that they are the only known portraits by the artist not to be dated in roman capitals.