A man holding a pipe

Details

WILLEM VAN MIERIS (LEIDEN 1662-1747)
A man holding a pipe
signed and dated 'W. Van. Mieris. / Fe^t An^o 1710.' (centre left)
oil on panel, oval
5 3⁄8 x 4 ¼ in. (13.6 x 10.8 cm.)

Provenance

(Possibly) D.G. van der Burgh van Kronenburg, Kronenburg Castle, Loenen; his sale (†), on the premises, 6 September 1824, lot 20.
(Possibly) Anonymous sale [The Property of a Gentleman]; Robinson & Fisher, London, 7 May 1896, lot 58.
(Possibly) H.C. Brunning, Hove; (†), Christie's, London, 25 January 1908, lot 60 (12 gns. to Gooden & Fox).
Elizabeth Watkinson Holbrooke (1868-1938), Bladon Castle, near Burton-on-Trent; her sale (†), Christie's, London, 17 February 1939, lot 106 (32 gns. to Craddock).
J. Kornmehl, The Hague (according to the RKD).
Private collection, circa 1960, and by descent until,
Anonymous sale [Property from a Dutch Private Collection]; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 18 May 2004, lot 11.
with Johnny van Haeften, London, from whom acquired by the present owner.

Literature

(Possibly) C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the seventeenth century based on the work of John Smith, Stuttgart and Paris, 1928, vol. X, p. 178, nos. 275 and 276.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Lucy Speelman Junior Specialist, Head of Day Sale

lspeelman@christies.com +44 207 752 3074

Lot Essay

Willem van Mieris was born into a prominent Leiden-based family of painters, son of Frans the Elder (1635-1681), brother of Jan (1660-1690), and father of Frans the Younger (1689-1763). The family were known for their small-scale genre subjects, of which the present painting is a superb and beautifully preserved example. Small enough to be held in the palm of a hand, this bright and lively depiction of a man holding a pipe belongs to a group of paintings depicting smokers, a popular subject at the time that would have amused the artist’s clients. Holding a long white pipe, wearing a velvet beret, a white ruffle-neck shirt, a dark yellow jacket, and a mauve vest, the man looks to his right with a characterful expression: an animated example of the artist's mastery of fine detail combined with playful expression and lively colour palette.

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