A posthumous portrait of Vincent Paets (1658-1702), bust-length, in a blue velvet cloak

Pieter van der Werff was the pupil and younger brother of Adriaen, who adopted the latter’s precise execution and opulent style. The sitter in the present portrait is traditionally said to be Vincent Paets, brother of Adriaen Paets (see lot 160). He began his professional life as a merchant trading in the East. Paets was appointed ambassador to China and tasked with courting the Emperor into cultivating trade relationships with the Dutch Republic by the governor of the Dutch East India Company in Java. Paets headed up the embassy in Peking from 1685-1687 but his attempts to establish lasting trade relationship with China failed.

As with the portrait of his brother, this work has never before been seen outside of the sitter’s family.