Lot Essay
Little is known about Jacob Bogdani's early life, or where he received his training in painting and drawing. He was born in about 1660 at Eperjes in Hungary and by the time he had reached his twenties he had decided to leave Hungary and travel to further his studies. He arrived in Amsterdam, probably via Vienna, in the spring of 1684. The Netherlands' tradition of still life painting had drawn many artists from other countries to work there, and one of these was the German painter Ernest Stuven. Bogdani went to work with him, and remained in Amsterdam until he moved again, this time to London.
He arrived in London in June 1688, joining a large group of Hungarians already working in the capital. His early career in London is obscure, but he must have had useful introductions, because by 1694 he had been asked by Queen Mary to work on the decoration of her Looking Glass Closet in the Thames Gallery at Hampton Court, in conjunction with Grinling Gibbons; a payment of #60 is recorded for the work carried out for the King and Queen between 1694 and 1696 (see O. Millar, Pictures in the Royal Collection: Tudor, Stuart and Early Georgian Pictures, 1963, p. 165, under no. 471). Queen Anne also became a patron, and it must have been through this connection that he met the Duke of Marlborough's younger brother, Admiral George Churchill, who had just been given the Lodge in the Little Park at Windsor. The Admiral created not only a beautiful garden in the grounds, but a famous aviary full of the most unusual birds, and here Bogdani was able to study these exotic creatures and paint them for the Admiral, who acquired a large number of his pictures. After his death in 1710, many of them were bought by Queen Anne for Hampton Court from his executors. Other commissions were also received from such important patrons as Sir Robert Walpole, the Earl of Albemarle (for his house near Zutpen in Holland), Lord Dover, Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford, and the Duke of Devonshire.
He arrived in London in June 1688, joining a large group of Hungarians already working in the capital. His early career in London is obscure, but he must have had useful introductions, because by 1694 he had been asked by Queen Mary to work on the decoration of her Looking Glass Closet in the Thames Gallery at Hampton Court, in conjunction with Grinling Gibbons; a payment of #60 is recorded for the work carried out for the King and Queen between 1694 and 1696 (see O. Millar, Pictures in the Royal Collection: Tudor, Stuart and Early Georgian Pictures, 1963, p. 165, under no. 471). Queen Anne also became a patron, and it must have been through this connection that he met the Duke of Marlborough's younger brother, Admiral George Churchill, who had just been given the Lodge in the Little Park at Windsor. The Admiral created not only a beautiful garden in the grounds, but a famous aviary full of the most unusual birds, and here Bogdani was able to study these exotic creatures and paint them for the Admiral, who acquired a large number of his pictures. After his death in 1710, many of them were bought by Queen Anne for Hampton Court from his executors. Other commissions were also received from such important patrons as Sir Robert Walpole, the Earl of Albemarle (for his house near Zutpen in Holland), Lord Dover, Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford, and the Duke of Devonshire.