Lot Essay
Of Rembrandt's surviving copperplates, especially the so-called nocturnes and the prints in which Rembrandt combined etching with drypoint and engraving in order to achieve a high tonality, have been reworked. The portrait of The Young Haaringh is an example of the latter. The plate, which was cut to the head and bust for the fourth state, was reworked and rebitten for the fifth.
Little is known about how most copperplates came to leave Rembrandt's possession. On occasion Rembrandt appears to have sold etched plates to patrons, print dealers and private clients. Most of the plates of portrait etchings seem to have become the property of the sitter. The plate of The Young Haaringh was recorded as being still with the Haaringh family in 1707, twenty-two years after the death of the sitter.
Long thought to be Jacob Haaringh, the son of Thomas Haaringh, the Amsterdam official who supervised the sale of Rembrandt's possessions at the time of the artist's insolvency in 1657 and 1658, this portrait has recently been identified as Pieter Haaringh, a younger relative. Pieter Haaringh was Receiver of the Orphan's Court in Amsterdam and regulated voluntary auctions. It is thought that he helped Rembrandt in his sale of 1655, before the artist was declared bankrupt, and it is quite possible that he was the auctioneer at Rembrandt's sale.
Little is known about how most copperplates came to leave Rembrandt's possession. On occasion Rembrandt appears to have sold etched plates to patrons, print dealers and private clients. Most of the plates of portrait etchings seem to have become the property of the sitter. The plate of The Young Haaringh was recorded as being still with the Haaringh family in 1707, twenty-two years after the death of the sitter.
Long thought to be Jacob Haaringh, the son of Thomas Haaringh, the Amsterdam official who supervised the sale of Rembrandt's possessions at the time of the artist's insolvency in 1657 and 1658, this portrait has recently been identified as Pieter Haaringh, a younger relative. Pieter Haaringh was Receiver of the Orphan's Court in Amsterdam and regulated voluntary auctions. It is thought that he helped Rembrandt in his sale of 1655, before the artist was declared bankrupt, and it is quite possible that he was the auctioneer at Rembrandt's sale.