Jan Breughel II (Antwerp 1601-1678)

The composition is based on Jan Brueghel I's Concert of Birds of 1606, on copper, 13 x 18 cm. (see: K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Aeltere, III, Lingen 2008-10, pp. 1138-41, no. 534a, ill.). From this prototype (in a private collection in Switzerland) derive several paintings, which can be either attributed to Jan Breughel II, who continued the studio upon his father's death in 1625, or to Jan van Kessel I, who was Jan Brueghel I's grandson. The best known version by Jan Breughel II is the Concert of Birds in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig (see: K. Ertz, Jan Breughel the Younger, Freren, 1984, pp. 492-493, no. 322, ill.), which is comparable to the present lot. A very similar composition, attributed to the studio of Jan Breughel II, on copper, 13 x 17.8 cm., was at Christie's, London, 24 April 1998, lot 1 (£ 36,700).

Offered with a certificate of authenticity by Dr. Klaus Ertz (5 April 2013) dating the present lot at the beginning of the 1630s.