Lot 24: Jan de Baen (Haarlem 1633-1702 The Hague)

Jan de Baen (Haarlem 1633-1702 The Hague)
Portrait of Gisbert Cuper (1644-1716), three-quarter-length, in a purple robe, standing with his right arm resting on a pillow with a gold medal of the States General, an allegorical figure of the 'stedenmaagd' of Deventer holding the fasces and sculptures of Minerva and Harpocrates beyond; and Portrait of Aleida van Suchtelen (1648-1689), three-quarter-length, standing in a red and yellow dress, with pearls and white lace sleeves, picking a flower, sculptures of the allegorical figures of Caritas and Abundantia beyond
oil on canvas
133 x 112 cm.
The first inscribed 'Gisbert Cúper/Eerst Hoogleeraar in de Historien En/welspreekendheid op de Hooge School te/Deventer, En Naderhand burgermeester En/Cameraar dier stad.' and the second 'Aleida van Súchtelen/Dogter van Abraham van Suchtelen/Ehevrouw van Gisb, Cúper' (on the reverse)
a pair (2)

Zwolle, Geschiedkundig-Overijsselsche tentoonstelling, August 1882, nos. 740, 742 and nos. 1066, 1067.
Deventer, De Hereeniging, Tentoonstelling van Oude Kunst en Kunstnijverheid, 12 June-1 July 1901, pp. 8-9, nos. 29 and 30, as 'unknown artist'.
On loan to Deventer Town Hall, 1952.
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, Portretten van Echt en Trouw, 15 February-19 May 1986, pp. 196-8, no. 41, as 'attributed to Jan de Baen.
Amsterdam, Amsterdam Historisch Museum, De wereld binnen handbereik: Nederlandse kunst- en rariteitenverzamelingen, 1585-1735, 26 June-11 October 1992, p. 103, no. 213.

E.W. Moes, Iconographia Batava, etc, Amsterdam, 1897, pp. 213,434, nos. 1862 and 7693.
M.E. Houck, Mededelingen betreffende Gerhard ter Borch, Robert van Voerst, Pieter van Anraedt, Aleijda Wolfsen, Derck Hardenstein en Henrick ter Bruggen benevens aanteekeningen omtrent hunne familieleden, Zwolle, 1899, p. 138a.
P.C. Molhuysen and P.J. Blok, Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, Leiden, 1918, p. 487.
'Schilderij van oude magistraat aanvaard', in Deventer Dagblad, 26 February 1952, illustrated.
A.J. Veenendaal, 'Bijdrage tot de iconografie van Gisbert Cuper en zijn vrouw', in Jaarboek van het Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, VIII, 1954, pp. 13-16.
E. Bergvelt, e.a., De wereld binnen handbereik: Nederlandse kunst- en rariteitenverzamelingen, 1585-1735, Amsterdam, 1992, p. 183, fig. 157.
M. van Delft, e.a., Verzamelaars en verzamelingen. Koninklijke Bibliotheek 1798-1998, Zwolle, 1998, no. 64.

Commissioned by Gisbert Cuper (1644-1716) and Aleida van Suchtelen (1648-1689), Deventer.
By descent to their daughter Henrica van Suchtelen-Cuper (1679-?).
By descent to her son Gerhard Gijsbert Joan van Suchtelen (1722-1788). By descent to his nephew Wilhelm Umbgrove (1756-1838).
By descent to his daughter Aleijda Maria Dumbar-Umbgrove (1787-1855).
By descent to her son Gerhard Dumbar (1815-1878).
By descent to his daughter Elisabeth Gerhardina Henriette Dijckmeester-Dumbar (1856-1880).
By descent to her son Mr. G. Dijckmeester, Norg (1884-?).
By descent to his daughter Mrs. A.P.A.C. Veen-Dijckmeester, thence by descent to the present family members.

THE PROPERTY OF A DUTCH FAMILY

Gisbert Cuper and Aleida van Suchtelen married in 1670 in Deventer. Aleida's father had been mayor to the same city and Gisbert would follow in his father in law's footsteps. Two years before the marriage, Cuper was appointed 'Professor historiarum et eloquentia' at Deventer's Atheneum. The medal depicted in his portrait reminds us of another important appointment in his carreer: he became a member of the States General. The allegorical figure of the 'Stedenmaagd' of Deventer in the painting alludes to his period as mayor and the two statues symbolize his erudition. Minerva, of course, stands for Wisdom in general and he himself published an essay on the Egyptian deity Harpocrates in 1676. Also the portrait of Aleida is full of symbols. The rose and statue of Caritas refer to love and the statue of Abundantia symbolizes her well-being and fertility (see E. de Jongh, Portretten van Echt en Trouw, Haarlem and Zwolle, 1986, pp. 196-8, no. 41).

Both portraits were probably painted in The Hague between 1681 and 1689 when, as member of the States General from 1681, Gisbert spent a lot of time there. 1689 marks the year of Aleida's untimely death.