Lot 108: *GERKE JANS DE JAGER (CIRCA 1748-1822)

inscribed on the letter M. Heer/O. Heer... oil on canvas The present attribution has been suggested by Dr. Ineke Wansink of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, the Hague, (see Provenance, 1996 sale below) based on a comparison with a set of decorative canvases from Heerestraat 78, Groningen, sold at Roos & Co, Amsterdam, June 26 1917, lot 2. These were the only works known by the artist, who was born in Leeuwarden and died in Groningen. Among the objects depicted in this painting the artist has represented eight volumes of Joan Blaeu's Atlas Major, published beginning in 1662. It was composed of twelve lavish volumes, consisting of nearly 600 double page maps and 3000 pages of text. The Atlas Major was the most expensive printed book of the seventeenth century and remains a great testament of what is referred to as the Golden Age of cartography.

Sale: Christie's, London, December 13, 1996, lot 24, there purchased by the present collector for £78,500 ($130,153)