David Teniers II (Antwerp 1610-1690 Brussels)
Lot 1 PROPERTY FROM THE HASCOE FAMILY COLLECTION

David Teniers II (Antwerp 1610-1690 Brussels)

An elderly couple weighing money

Closed28 January 2015

Price Realised

USD 87,500

More Information

How to sell

David Teniers II (Antwerp 1610-1690 Brussels)
An elderly couple weighing money
signed 'D. TENIERS' (upper right)
oil on panel
8¼ x 6½ in. (21 x 16.5 cm.)

(Probably) Comte de Vence, Paris; his sale, Paris, 9-17 February 1761, lot 69 (66 francs).
Baron Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, Frankfurt am Main.
Zacharias Max Hackenbroch, Frankurt;
with Dr. Albert (Alfred) Heppner, Berlin and Amsterdam, on consignment from the above, by November 17, 1933, and until at least 8 March, 1934.
Curt Bohnewand, Berlin and Rottach-Egern, by 1942; his sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 28 March 1969, lot 22.
Herbert Girardet, Kettwig, 1970.
Waterman, Amsterdam, from whom acquired by
The Hascoe family;
Restituted to the heirs of Zacharias Max Hackenbroch, January 2015.
The present work is being offered for sale pursuant to an agreement between the consignor and the heirs of Mr. Zacharias Max Hackenbroch. This resolves any issue over ownership of the work and title will pass to the buyer.

Specialist note

The subject of a couple weighing gold belongs to the tradition popularized by Quentin Massys, Marinus van Reymerswael, and other early Netherlandish painters, for whom it was associated with the admonition in Leviticus 19:35: "You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure". The theme was always understood as a warning against covetousness and greed; indeed, when the present work was engraved in 1760, it was accompanied with the inscription: "What do you wish to do with this Gold? A vain Pile, what folly! Soon you will lose your Life; Will you take your Treasure with you?". Peter Sutton tentatively dates the present work to the late 1640s.