Lot 254: JAN DE BEIJER AARAU 1703 - 1780 CLEVES

all signed, dated and/or inscribed in grey ink except i), j) in brown ink:
a) verso: J:deBeijer ad viv:delin: De Ridderhoffstad Hijnderstejn/in de Provintie van Utregt./1744; b) verso: J:de Beijer ad viv:delin: t'Hujs Oud Rejnestejn/en Kerk te Koote./1744; c) and d), recto: J: De Beijer ad viv: delin: 1749.; c) verso: t' Hujs Oud=Wulfen; d) verso: t' Hujs te Wulfen.; e) Het Riddermaetige Hujs Moersbergen. 1750.; f) verso: De Ridder hoffstad Hardenbroek. 1750.; g) J: De Beijer, ad viv.delin: 1744/Het Capittel of Land Comanderije/der Ridders: Deütschen Ordens Balleje van O:L:V: van Jeru.../t'Utregt. h) verso: J Beijer ad viv: delin: 1744/Ruwijne der Kerk des bovengenoemde/Deütschen Huises t'Utregt; i) verso: J. De Beijer ad viv:delin: t' Hoff ter Weij, bij Utregt. 1744; j) verso: J:De Beijer ad viv:delin: t' Hujs den Eng. 1744.

pen and grey ink and wash, g) also with brown ink
Inv.nr. N 12-15, N 19-24

TEN VIEWS, ON FIVE SHEETS, OF DUTCH COUNTRY HOUSES OR CASTLES: A) CASTLE HINDERSTEIN; B) CASTLE RIJNESTEIN; C) THE HUIS OUD-WULFEN; D) CASTLE WULFEN; E) CASTLE MOERSBERGEN; F) CASTLE HARDENBROEK; G) THE DUITSE HUIS, UTRECHT; H) THE RUINED CHAPEL OF THE DUITSE HUIS; I) THE HOF TER WEIJDE; J) THE HUIS DEN ENGH

each sheet circa 171 by 112 mm.

Amsterdam/Dordrecht, 1994-5, cat. no. 46 (c, d, g, h, e and f)

Isaak Tirion, his sale, Amsterdam, H. de Winter and J. Yver, 18 September 1769, kunstboek C, no. 346 (i and j), kunstboek F, nos. 499 (g and h), 530 (e and f) and 545(c and d) kunstboek J, no. 994 (a and b);
G.C.D.E. d'Aumale Baron van Hardenbroek, The Hague, before 1970

QUANTITY: 5

Jan de Beijer was one of the leading topographical draughtsman of his time, and produced a wide range of views of towns, castles and other locations throughout Holland. In 1722 he settled for a while in Amsterdam, where he was a pupil of Cornelis Pronk, but thereafter travelled extensively around the country, before basing himself in Utrecht from 1753-1765. His topographical views are generally fairly reliable, and are therefore of considerable documentary value.

The Dutch interest in historical topography reached its peak in the 18th Century, when numerous collectors created a so-called 'Atlas', a collection of drawings and prints relating to a certain town or area. Alongside this there was a growth in illustrated books describing anything from a country seat to a town, region or province. The most elaborate publication of this type was the massive, 22-volume Tegenwoordige staat der Vereenigde Nederlanden, issued in Amsterdam by Isaak Tirion. After he had produced three of these volumes, Tirion decided to begin publishing separate, parallel volumes with plates, the first of which appeared in 1739, under the title Het verheerlykt Nederland of kabinet van hedendaagsche gezigten...; this was followed, though only slowly, by a further 8 volumes of plates. To prepare the illustrations for these publications, Tirion hired four artists: Cornelis Pronk and his pupil, Abraham de Haen, Jan de Beijer and Hendrik Spilman. Of these, the first three went out travelling and recording views, while Spilman stayed at home and made prints after their drawings. In order to prevent the publication from becoming too expensive, Tirion had the artists make the prints small enough (circa 70 x 100 mm.) for two images to be printed together on a single octavo page.

The present drawings of country houses in and around Utrecht are all preparatory studies for prints by Hendrik Spilman in volume 7 of Het verheerlykt Nederland, which in fact appeared only after Tirion's death, in 1773-74. Shortly before this, in 1769, Isaak Tirion's collection was sold in Amsterdam, and the 10 Unicorno drawings are clearly identifiable, as five lots, in the catalogue of this sale (see Provenance). Exceptionally, these drawings have remained in their original pairs, just like the printed versions; normally, these pairs have at some stage been cut into two, to be sold off as individual drawings. For more information on the houses depicted, see Amsterdam/Dordrecht 1994-5, pp. 103-105.