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Lot Essay
This recently rediscovered painting by Schalcken is a remarkable addition to the artist’s oeuvre. It is Schalcken's earliest candlelight painting and datable to circa 1665-68, shortly after he had completed his training with Gerrit Dou in Leiden. Indeed, the present painting is particularly close in conception to Dou’s Clearing the Table of about 1655-60 in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, of which a copy by Schalcken in the Residenzgalerie, Salzburg, is also known (see T. Behermann, op. cit., p. 362, no. 339, illustrated).
Much like Dou’s painting in Frankfurt, the two figures in the present painting wear clothing typical of domestic servants. The younger girl is probably a scullery maid or chargirl employed to do odd jobs or deliver messages, as she appears to be doing here, while the blue apron worn by the older girl indicates that she is probably a live-in domestic servant.
We are grateful to Professor Wayne Franits for endorsing the attribution following firsthand inspection of the painting and to Eddy Schavemaker, who endorsed it on the basis of photographs.
Much like Dou’s painting in Frankfurt, the two figures in the present painting wear clothing typical of domestic servants. The younger girl is probably a scullery maid or chargirl employed to do odd jobs or deliver messages, as she appears to be doing here, while the blue apron worn by the older girl indicates that she is probably a live-in domestic servant.
We are grateful to Professor Wayne Franits for endorsing the attribution following firsthand inspection of the painting and to Eddy Schavemaker, who endorsed it on the basis of photographs.