Attributed to Jan Havicksz. Steen (1626-1679)

A Merry Company in an Interior

Details

Attributed to Jan Havicksz. Steen (1626-1679)
A Merry Company in an Interior
bears signature 'J. Steen' [JS linked]
oil on panel
15 x 19.3/8in. (40 x 49.2cm.)

Provenance

J. Dansor Nijman, Amsterdam, 1797 (according to K. Braun; see below).
Jan Gildermeester Janszn.; sale, v.d. Schley, Amsterdam, June 11, 1800 (according to K. Braun; see below).
Sir F. Sykes; sale, London, 1831 (according to K. Braun; see below).
Klerk de Reus, The Hague (according to K.Braun; see below).
Rothschild Collection, Frankfurt am Main (according to K. Braun; see below).
with Frederic Mont, New York, 1948.
with Newhouse Galleries, New York.
W.P. Chrysler, by 1957.
with Newhouse Galleries, New York, from whom purchased by the present owner in 1959.

Literature

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonn, etc., IV, 1837, p. 18, no. 56 or no. 40; and Supplement, p. 513, no. 104.
T. van Westrheene, Jan Steen: tudes sur l'Art en Hollande, 1856, no. 181 or 292.
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonn, etc, 1908, I, p. 154, no. 594, as on canvas, or nos. 723, 838 and 838a.
K. Braun, Het Komplete Werk van Jan Steen, 1980, p. 172, no. B-159, under 'Werken die ten onrechte aan Jan Steen werden of worden toegeschreven'.

Lot Essay

Braun (op. cit.) lists at least two other versions of the present work, but rejects all of them, including the present lot, and believes that they are all possibly copies of a lost original by Jan Steen. Braun identifies Hofstede de Groot no. 838 with nos. 594, 723 and 838a. The early provenance of the present painting cannot, therefore, be listed with any certainty.