Cornelis Springer (Dutch, 1817-1891)
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Cornelis Springer (Dutch, 1817-1891)

Huizen van Bossu te Hoorn: a busy day at the Slapershaven

Details
Cornelis Springer (Dutch, 1817-1891)
Huizen van Bossu te Hoorn: a busy day at the Slapershaven
signed and dated 'C Springer 1875.' (lower right); and signed and dated again and inscribed with title and authenticated 'De ondergeteekende verklaard/dat den schildering, voorstellende de zoogenaamde Huizen van Bossu/te Hoorn, door hem is vervaardigd./Amsterdam/28 dec 1875' (on a label attached to the reverse) and with the artists seals (attached to the reverse) and signed again and inscribed with the text on the facade of the Houses of Bossu (on a label attached to the reverse)
oil on panel
53 x 65.5 cm.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by Mr J. Steffelaar, Amsterdam, 21 October 1875, (f. 1000,-).
Kunsthandel M. Wolff, Amsterdam.
Kunsthandel Pieter A. Scheen, The Hague, 1960.
Mr L. Teulings, 's-Hertogenbosch.
Leo Teulings Collectie sale, Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 26 October 1998, lot 184.
Richard Green Galleries, Londen, 1998, where acquired by the present owner.
Literature
Pieter A. Scheen, Lexicon der Nederlandse Beeldende Kunstenaars 1750-1950, Volume II, The Hague, 1970, ill. 193.
Willem Laanstra, H.C. de Bruijn, J.H.A. Ringeling, Cornelis Springer (1817-1891), Utrecht, 1984, p. 188, no. 75-12, as: De Huizen van Bossu te Hoorn.
Exhibited
The Hague, Kunsthandel Pieter A. Scheen, Zomertentoonstelling catalogus XVIII, August 1960, cat.no. 45.
's-Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Museum, Romantische en Haagse School: Een Bossche collectie, 28 January-27 February 1983, cat.no. 16.
Special notice
Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the Hammer Price of each lot sold at the following rates: 29.75% of the Hammer Price of each lot up to and including €5,000, plus 23.8% of the Hammer Price between €5,001 and €400,000, plus 14.28% of any amount in excess of €400,001. Buyer’s premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Cornelis Springer probably visited Hoorn for the first time in September 1872. He often added the date and location on the various studies he made of the towns and villages that he visited. Because of this we can recreate his journeys quite precisely. Springer was inspired by this wealthy trading town and would visit it on several occasions. He produced at least fifteen different views of Hoorn during his lifetime. In 1874 he executed a watercolour of the Houses of Bossu seen from the exactly the same position as in the present lot. The watercolour is currently preserved in the collection of the West Fries Museum, Hoorn.

Springer usually concentrated on the most beautiful and historically important buildings of a town. Typically, the present large panel is dominated by magnificent architecture. The Houses of Bossu are situated on the corner of the Slapershaven and the Grote Oost and still exists today. Its important gables are decorated with episodes from the battle on the Zuiderzee near the harbours of Hoorn in 1573. During this sea-battle the pro-Spanish troops under command of Count Bossu engaged the West Frisian fleet who were against the Spanish Catholic King. The Dutch provinces fought for their independence and their Protestant faith. The Spanish were defeated and Count Bossu was captured and held in prison in the orphanage of Hoorn for three years. The battle represented on the gables is depicted in words as well as in remarkable relief sculptures.

Springer attached a label to the reverse of the panel reproducing the text on the houses. It reads:

1ste huis
Tot een van haer geslagt tot lof van dese daed,
die klampen hem aenboort,
die weten nog wel raedt, hier is een hoorens hop.
Daer gaat het op een vechten, daer het met eene schip vast aen't ander hechten
Daer siet men reghte liefde, daer doet men onderstandt, daer veght men sonder gelt voor t'lieve vaderland.

2de huis
en sonder twyefel dit daer sijnder ook int midden
daer sijnder op het land die godt met mooses bidden,
tot dat men overwint gelijck het is geschiet,
waer van men huijden noch een klare teken siet.

3de huis
o loffelijke daed o schoone gulde tyden,
wie dat er aen gedenkt die moet hem nog verblyden,
het land dat schut en beeft den vyand die komt aen,
hij wil met amelek gantsch israel verslaen,
hij komt met grote macht maar godt heeft ons gegeven,
ook arons ende hurs wiens namen zijn geschreven.

Bossu zeeslach geschut.

Springer has applied an intricate lighting plan which ultimately draws the eye deep into the painting to the very brightly lit houses in the background and the figures walking past them. Beautiful shadows are cast across the street, echoing the shape of the historic houses. The sunlight also deepens the green of the grass on the lower right. In the present painting the relatively heavy left side of the composition is ingeniously counterbalanced by tall, full trees on the right. Underneath these trees local women are busy laying out the washing to dry. In the context of his later works, the present painting is considered to be one of his finest and most accomplished.

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