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Lot Essay
Prominently signed by the artist on the stone ledge at center, this dynamic painting is a superlative example of Melchior’s work from the early 1660s, shortly after his relocation to Amsterdam. The starkly realistic rendering of animals in the foreground, the Italianate landscape, and the emphasis on maternal tenderness are hallmarks of the artist’s mature style.
High-energy vignettes—such as the duck mid-takeoff at upper left—are offset by quieter moments, like the mother duck watchfully tending to her ducklings swimming in the foreground. Commenting on these characteristics in 1945, William R. Valentiner described the painting as “an excellent work of Melchior de Hondecoeter, the best Dutch painter of birds and farmyards in the seventeenth century. The painting is fully signed, rich in color, and in a fine state of preservation” (written communication, 6 August 1945).
Although Melchior is not known to have produced preparatory sketches for his paintings, he did create oil studies of animals from life, often reusing these poses in subsequent works. A figure identical to the duckling lying on the rocks at right appears in a charming oil sketch, also datable to his Amsterdam period, which was on the art market in the 1990s (Lempertz, Cologne, 20 May 1995, lot 864; Zurich, Galerie Koller, 19–21 March 1997, lot 29; RKD illustration no. 0000013053).
High-energy vignettes—such as the duck mid-takeoff at upper left—are offset by quieter moments, like the mother duck watchfully tending to her ducklings swimming in the foreground. Commenting on these characteristics in 1945, William R. Valentiner described the painting as “an excellent work of Melchior de Hondecoeter, the best Dutch painter of birds and farmyards in the seventeenth century. The painting is fully signed, rich in color, and in a fine state of preservation” (written communication, 6 August 1945).
Although Melchior is not known to have produced preparatory sketches for his paintings, he did create oil studies of animals from life, often reusing these poses in subsequent works. A figure identical to the duckling lying on the rocks at right appears in a charming oil sketch, also datable to his Amsterdam period, which was on the art market in the 1990s (Lempertz, Cologne, 20 May 1995, lot 864; Zurich, Galerie Koller, 19–21 March 1997, lot 29; RKD illustration no. 0000013053).