Provenance
With
Pfefferle, Munich, 1869 (according to a red wax seal on the reverse)
Martin
Haller (1835-1925), Hamburg
Osswald
collection, Hamburg, and by descent
Ilse
Fabarius, Hamburg
From
whom inherited or acquired for a private collection, Hamburg, in circa 1950
Thence
by inheritance to the previous owner
Private
collection, Germany, until 2021
Anonymous
online sale, Sotheby’s, London, 9th December 2021, Lot 118
Literature
U.
Härting, Studien zur Kabinettbildmalerei des Frans Franken II. 1581-1642,
1983, no. A147.
U.
Härting, Frans Francken der Jüngere. Die Gemälde mit kritischem Oeuvrekatalog,
Freren 1989, p. 286, no. 204, reproduced.
Notes
There is an unidentified collector’s red wax seal on the verso of the panel.
Biography
The most productive and illustrious scion of the Francken family of artists, Frans Francken the Younger was born in Antwerp in 1581. He is presumed to have served his apprenticeship in the studio of his father, Frans Francken I, but also probably trained in Paris with his uncle, Hieronymous I. In 1605, Frans II became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke and, in 1615, he was elected Dean. In 1607, he married Elisabeth Placquet by whom he had seven children. Documents reveal that he worked directly for the art dealer, Christian van Immerzeel and, although he only registered one apprentice in the Guild, he certainly had other assistants including his brothers and sons. His greatest skill was as a figure painter and he collaborated with at least twenty of the leading landscape, still life and architectural painters of the day including Jan Brueghel the Younger, Abraham Govaerts, Joos de Momper II, Tobias Verhaecht, Bartholomeus van Bassen, Pieter Neefs I and II, Hendrick van Steenwijck and Paul Vredeman de Vries. He died on 6 May 1642 and was buried in the Church of St. Andrea in Antwerp.