Lot Essay
Guillielmus Kerricx the Elder is thought to have completed the latter part of his training under Artus Quellinus the Elder, and became a master of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1674. He spent the remainder of his career there, and is known to have executed both religious and secular commissions.
On 2 July 1991, five reliefs closely related to the present example were sold in these Rooms. Two of these were signed with the initials 'GK', and all five were thought to have been part of the now-dismantled altar of the Cooper's Guild in the cathedral of Notre Dame, Antwerp, completed in 1678. This assumption was based upon the similarity of the reliefs to the remaining elements of the Coopers' altar, now cemented into the wall behind the high altar of the cathedral.
The present relief is clearly from the same hand, and series, as the reliefs sold in 1991. Although unsigned, there is no reason to doubt that it is also by Kerricx, and the inclusion of the cooper at work in the central cartouche further strengthens the theory that all these reliefs are from the Coopers' altar of the cathedral in Antwerp. Furthermore, it is known that Quellinus the Elder was one of three people asked to present designs for the chapel in the initial stages of the commission (Brussels, op. cit., no. 281). It seems entirely plausible, therefore, that the carving of these screens might eventually have been passed to Quellinus's former apprentice, Guillielmus Kerricx.
On 2 July 1991, five reliefs closely related to the present example were sold in these Rooms. Two of these were signed with the initials 'GK', and all five were thought to have been part of the now-dismantled altar of the Cooper's Guild in the cathedral of Notre Dame, Antwerp, completed in 1678. This assumption was based upon the similarity of the reliefs to the remaining elements of the Coopers' altar, now cemented into the wall behind the high altar of the cathedral.
The present relief is clearly from the same hand, and series, as the reliefs sold in 1991. Although unsigned, there is no reason to doubt that it is also by Kerricx, and the inclusion of the cooper at work in the central cartouche further strengthens the theory that all these reliefs are from the Coopers' altar of the cathedral in Antwerp. Furthermore, it is known that Quellinus the Elder was one of three people asked to present designs for the chapel in the initial stages of the commission (Brussels, op. cit., no. 281). It seems entirely plausible, therefore, that the carving of these screens might eventually have been passed to Quellinus's former apprentice, Guillielmus Kerricx.
