Circle of Jan Steen (Leiden 1626-1679)
Lot 11

Circle of Jan Steen (Leiden 1626-1679)

A seated man wearing a hat, leaning over to pick up a pitcher

Closed26 January 2012

Price Realised

USD 6,875

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Circle of Jan Steen (Leiden 1626-1679)
A seated man wearing a hat, leaning over to pick up a pitcher
black chalk, with black chalk framing lines
4¾ x 3½ in. (11.8 x 8.9 cm.)

with Herbert E. Feist, circa 1970, where acquired by the present owner (as by Cornelis Bega).

Specialist note

Steinberg wrestled with the attribution of this drawing almost as soon as he acquired it. Notes on the back of the frame refer to Jacob de Backer, Govaert Flinck and Moses Ter Borch (an attribution suggested by Jim Goodfriend), as well as a reminder dated 1987 to ask Werner Sumowski, the renowned Rembrandt drawings expert for his opinion.
Peter Schatborn noted a similar, but not completely identical figure to the Steinberg drawing in Jan Steen's painting Landscape with skittle players (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Inv.-Nr. GG 6319). Drawings by Steen are extremely rare - indeed only two are known. One is a double-sided sheet with black chalk studies of two other figures in the Vienna picture (Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet), the other is a compositional study for The trial of the young Moses (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum).
We are grateful to Peter Schatborn for suggesting the attribution based on photographs and for his assistance cataloguing this lot.