Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade (Haarlem 1610-1684)
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Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade (Haarlem 1610-1684)

An amorous couple at a cottage door

Details
Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade (Haarlem 1610-1684)
An amorous couple at a cottage door
with remains of signature (?) (lower right)
oil on panel
10 5/8 x 8 5/8 in. (27 x 22 cm.)
Provenance
Sir Francis Cook, 1st Bt. (1817-1901), Doughty House, Richmond, and by descent at Doughty House to
Sir Francis Cook, 4th Bt. (b. 1907).
Nathan Katz; his sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 7 December 1950, lot 50, 'Les Amoureux', pl. XXIX, where acquired by the father of the present owner.
Literature
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné, etc., III, London, 1923, p. 235, no. 311, 'Rustic Lovers at a Door'.
Abridged catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, in the collection of Sir Herbert Cook, Bart, London, 1932, p. 38, no. 300 (87), 'The Lovers. Painted about 1650-60'.
L. Godefroy, The Complete Etchings of l'Oeuvre gravé de Adriaen van Ostade, Amsterdam, 1990, no. 11, 'La Tendresse Villageoise'.
L.J. Slatkes, et. al., Everday Life in Holland's Golden Age. The Complete Etchings of Adriaen van Ostade, Studies in Dutch Graphic Art, VIII, Leiden, 1998, under no. B.11.
Engraved
By the artist, circa 1667, in the opposite sense.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The dating for the present work proposed in the 1932 Doughty House catalogue of 1650-60 is convincing and consistent with the possible date of the etching. Originally thought to have been executed in 1667, Professor Leonard Slatkes has kindly pointed out that the etching is now believed to date from earlier in the artist's career, circa 1652, and that the picture is likely to have been painted at around the same time. Peasants (normally single figures) shown at cottage doors with vine leaves growing overhead was a successful format devised by Ostade to expound the virtue of a simple contented peasant life, as, for example with the Old Woman in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (inv. no. 841).

Sir Francis Cook became the head of his father's textile, manufacturing and wholesaling firm in 1869, establishing through it a fortune that enabled him to become one of the principal collectors of antique Greek and Roman sculpture in the Victorian era, as well as a major buyer of paintings, acquiring his collection mostly at auction between 1855 and 1870. Cook's wide ranging collection of paintings at Doughty House was one of the finest of his time, including works such as Titian's celebrated Portrait of Ranuccio Farnese, Fra Angelico and Fra Filippino Lippi's Adoration of the Magi, Bellini's Episode from the life of Publius Cornelius Scipio, François Clouet's A Lady in her Bath, Mantegna's Christ Child blessing (all National Gallery, Washington, D.C.) and Titian's Portrait of a Lady (National Gallery, London).

We are grateful to Dr. Bernhard Schnackenburg of the Staatliche Museum, Cassel, for confirming the attribution on the basis of a transparency.

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