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Lot Essay
Gerard ter Borch is widely regarded as the leading seventeenth-century Dutch painter of high-life subjects. Renowned for his depictions of elegantly dressed, aristocratic women in opulent interiors, his paintings are celebrated for their extraordinary detail—particularly in the rendering of silks and satins—and their nuanced psychological insight. These sophisticated milieus, so vividly captured in Ter Borch's paintings, may reflect aspects of his own distinguished upbringing in Zwolle. His father was a tax collector with a passion for art and he encouraged Gerard, his sister Gesina, and brother Moses, all to draw from a young age.
In 1634, Ter Borch began an apprenticeship with the landscapist Pieter Molijn (1595–1661) and joined the Haarlem guild the following year. He traveled extensively: to England in 1635, Italy in 1637, Spain in 1639, returning to Holland via France in 1640. During these years, Ter Borch gained renown as a portraitist, specializing in small-scale, full-length portraits executed with meticulous precision. In 1646, he accompanied the Dutch delegation to the Westphalia peace conference, where he painted miniatures and a group portrait of the signatories of the Treaty of Münster (1648; London, National Gallery, inv. no. NG896).
Johanna Quadacker (1640–1672) married Frederick Fredericks Bannier in 1657 and Ter Borch painted their portraits around this time, along with that of their son-in-law, Aelbert Nilant. In the Houck family sales of 1864 and 1895, the present portrait, which shares the same dimensions as Ter Borch’s portrait of Aelbert Nilant, was assumed to depict Swantje Nilant, Aelbert's sister. However, S.J. Gudlaugsson (op. cit., II, 1960, p. 177) convincingly argued that, despite the slightly smaller dimensions, this portrait was intended as a companion to Ter Borch’s portrait of Frederick Bannier and, consequently, that the sitter should be identified as Johanna Quadacker.
In 1634, Ter Borch began an apprenticeship with the landscapist Pieter Molijn (1595–1661) and joined the Haarlem guild the following year. He traveled extensively: to England in 1635, Italy in 1637, Spain in 1639, returning to Holland via France in 1640. During these years, Ter Borch gained renown as a portraitist, specializing in small-scale, full-length portraits executed with meticulous precision. In 1646, he accompanied the Dutch delegation to the Westphalia peace conference, where he painted miniatures and a group portrait of the signatories of the Treaty of Münster (1648; London, National Gallery, inv. no. NG896).
Johanna Quadacker (1640–1672) married Frederick Fredericks Bannier in 1657 and Ter Borch painted their portraits around this time, along with that of their son-in-law, Aelbert Nilant. In the Houck family sales of 1864 and 1895, the present portrait, which shares the same dimensions as Ter Borch’s portrait of Aelbert Nilant, was assumed to depict Swantje Nilant, Aelbert's sister. However, S.J. Gudlaugsson (op. cit., II, 1960, p. 177) convincingly argued that, despite the slightly smaller dimensions, this portrait was intended as a companion to Ter Borch’s portrait of Frederick Bannier and, consequently, that the sitter should be identified as Johanna Quadacker.