Lot 6: HENDRICK CORNELISZ. VAN VLIET

A Portrait of a Gentleman of the Verzyl Family, Standing Three-Quarter Length, Wearing a Black Costume with White Collar and Cuffs, and Holding a Glove in his Left Hand;

A Portrait of a Lady of the Verzyl Family, Standing Three-Quarter Length, Wearing a Black Dress with a White Lace Collar and Cuffs, and Pearl Jewellery, and Holding a Fan in her Right Hand

The former signed and dated centre left on the pedestal: H. Van Vliet.A°.1665 and inscribed with a date centre left: 12/23, and also inscribed with the Verzyl family device with three trees in a cartouche lower left, the latter signed, dated centre left on the stone balcony: H. Van Vliet. A°.1665 12/23

A pair, both oil on the original canvas, unlined (strip-lined), most probably in the original black wooden frames Each approx. 107.5 by 81.6 cm. (2)

Provenance

Fossion (as inscribed on old labels on the reverse of both stretchers); Possibly sale, Antwerp, Ter Bruggen, 16 April 1876, lots 97 and 98; With Rafael Valls, London, 2010.

This lovely pair of portraits was most probably commissioned by their prosperous sitters to commemorate their marriage, which must have taken place on 23 December 1665, a Wednesday; both pictures are inscribed with this exact date, a rare occasion in painting. Living in Gouda, the Verzyl family was a prominent patrician family who owned a company of tree nurseries, a lucrative business at that time, which brought them prosperity and status.

Born in around 1611/12 in Delft, Hendrick Cornelisz. vanVliet worked his entire life in his town of birth. He studied under his uncle Willem van Vliet (c. 1584-1642) and was admitted to the painters guild in Delft in 1632. Although primarily known as a painter of church interiors with a good eye for perspective, Hendrick started his career with portrait painting as an apprentice of Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt (1566-1641). Van Vliet was considered one of Delft’s most bespoke, accomplished portraitists, as we can also observe in this pair of portraits of 1665, showing a remarkable attention to detail; observe for example the dimple in the forehead of the gentleman.

We kindly thank Marten Jan Bok of the University of Amsterdam for his help in identifying the family of the sitters, and also Patrick Larsen for his help in researching the portraits; he has written an interesting report on the portraits by Van Vliet in 2008: Kopstukken van Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet (RKD).