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Lot Essay
This exquisite chalk on vellum composition is perhaps the earliest example of van Mieris' mature style, exemplified by a highly finished, detailed technique - and wholly separate from the influence of his teacher Gerard Dou, and Rembrandt and his school. The artist intended drawings done in this style as independent works of art for the commercial market.
These compositions - where a woman is reacting to something unexpected or is found in a state of peril - were popular with van Mieris and his contemporaries and their popularity endured beyond the artist's lifetime. Van Mieris painted a variant of this subject, The doctor's visit (fig. 1), now in the J. Paul Getty Museum. A version of this subject by the artist's son, Frans van Mieris the Younger (1689-1763) will be sold in these Rooms on 29 January 2014 (lot XX?). Well into the 18th century the composition was still popular and prompted engravings, for example one by Pieter de Mare (1757-1796).
This drawing has an impressive provenance, having been in the collections of some of the most important collectors of Dutch drawings since shortly after it was drawn. In the late 17th century it was owned by the Dutch writer Sybrand I Feitama. In the 18th century it was in the collection of Willem Six (`662-1733), descendant of the wealthy merchant Jan Six, who famously sat for a portrait by Rembrandt. Later in the eighteenth century, it was one of the over 7,000 drawings owned by Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726-1798), the wealthy Dutch merchant and art collector and theorist. Most recently it belonged to Eric Martin Wunsch whose Dutch drawings complemented his nearly unrivalled collection of American Furniture.
These compositions - where a woman is reacting to something unexpected or is found in a state of peril - were popular with van Mieris and his contemporaries and their popularity endured beyond the artist's lifetime. Van Mieris painted a variant of this subject, The doctor's visit (fig. 1), now in the J. Paul Getty Museum. A version of this subject by the artist's son, Frans van Mieris the Younger (1689-1763) will be sold in these Rooms on 29 January 2014 (lot XX?). Well into the 18th century the composition was still popular and prompted engravings, for example one by Pieter de Mare (1757-1796).
This drawing has an impressive provenance, having been in the collections of some of the most important collectors of Dutch drawings since shortly after it was drawn. In the late 17th century it was owned by the Dutch writer Sybrand I Feitama. In the 18th century it was in the collection of Willem Six (`662-1733), descendant of the wealthy merchant Jan Six, who famously sat for a portrait by Rembrandt. Later in the eighteenth century, it was one of the over 7,000 drawings owned by Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726-1798), the wealthy Dutch merchant and art collector and theorist. Most recently it belonged to Eric Martin Wunsch whose Dutch drawings complemented his nearly unrivalled collection of American Furniture.