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Lot Essay
Described by Klaus Ertz as an example of outstanding quality ('auf höchstem malerischen Niveau' and 'von hervorragender Qualität'; loc. cit., pp. 834 and 845) of one of Pieter Brueghel II's finest original compositions, this is the earliest known example of, and probably the prototype for, those versions of the composition with the sign for the Swan Inn. Only ten versions of the composition are known, listed by Ertz, op. cit., as his nos. 1179-88, of which two (nos. 1187-8) he regards as being of uncertain attribution. This is also the first (repeated in two versions; ibid., nos. 1182 and 1186) to include the group of three men in the middle background, and it is interesting in that context that the underdrawing visible in the present painting shows that Brueghel altered the position of the group during his execution of the picture.
The earliest known example of the basic composition is that dated 1625 sold, Christie's, Amsterdam, 14 November 1991, lot 193, although the group of peasants seated around the table and the child raising her arms beyond recur in another, upright painting sold in these Rooms, 2 December 1983, lot 61, one of a pair with a Wedding dance (ibid., nos. 1118 and 941, figs. 570 and 569 respectively). Neither of the latter is dated, and it may be that they predate the present composition; however, as Ertz notes (ibid. p. 834), the context of the child makes more sense here, alarmed by the escaping pig held by its tail by the man and woman, suggesting that this is the original setting for the figure type, that was then reprised with the group around table in the upright painting.
The composition is, as mentioned above, of Pieter II's own device, and is related to the number of village landscapes that the artist favoured in his output in later life (for example that sold in these Rooms, 8 July 2005, lot 55 [£736,000]). Some of them reflect a developing interest in landscape, but the present composition suggests a perhaps more quintessentially Brueghelian theme: drinking and its associated consequences. This is clearly visible in the foreground figures, but in another version (with de Jonckheere, Paris, 1984; ibid., no. 1183, fig. 672) the link with the fighting group in the background is also more directly shown through the inclusion of playing cards around the foreground group: a reference to a theme developed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (in a composition known through an engraving by Lucas Vorstermann) and subsequently repeated by Pieter II, his brother Jan Breughel I and nephew Jan II.
The earliest known example of the basic composition is that dated 1625 sold, Christie's, Amsterdam, 14 November 1991, lot 193, although the group of peasants seated around the table and the child raising her arms beyond recur in another, upright painting sold in these Rooms, 2 December 1983, lot 61, one of a pair with a Wedding dance (ibid., nos. 1118 and 941, figs. 570 and 569 respectively). Neither of the latter is dated, and it may be that they predate the present composition; however, as Ertz notes (ibid. p. 834), the context of the child makes more sense here, alarmed by the escaping pig held by its tail by the man and woman, suggesting that this is the original setting for the figure type, that was then reprised with the group around table in the upright painting.
The composition is, as mentioned above, of Pieter II's own device, and is related to the number of village landscapes that the artist favoured in his output in later life (for example that sold in these Rooms, 8 July 2005, lot 55 [£736,000]). Some of them reflect a developing interest in landscape, but the present composition suggests a perhaps more quintessentially Brueghelian theme: drinking and its associated consequences. This is clearly visible in the foreground figures, but in another version (with de Jonckheere, Paris, 1984; ibid., no. 1183, fig. 672) the link with the fighting group in the background is also more directly shown through the inclusion of playing cards around the foreground group: a reference to a theme developed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (in a composition known through an engraving by Lucas Vorstermann) and subsequently repeated by Pieter II, his brother Jan Breughel I and nephew Jan II.