Lot 46: LOUIS DE MONI BREDA 1698 - 1771 LEIDEN

PROPERTY OF A NOBLE FAMILY

A GAME SELLER, HOLDING A MALLARD DRAKE, AT A WINDOW, TOGETHER WITH A BASKET AND OTHER DUCKS AND RABBITS ON A STONE LEDGE

A GAME SELLER, HOLDING A MALLARD DRAKE, AT A WINDOW, TOGETHER WITH A BASKET AND OTHER DUCKS AND RABBITS ON A STONE LEDGE

measurements note
34 by 25.5 cm.; 13 3/8 by 10 in.

signed lower centre: L: De Moni F

oil on panel, stamped on the reverse with the inventory number: 247

NOTE

Louis de Moni was born in Breda, and studied under Charles de Biset and then under Jan Thomas van Kessel, before moving to the Hague where he enrolled with the Academy in the Hague in 1721. Between 1724-5 he held the position of "teeknaar" under Phillip van Dyck, and with whom he worked in Kassel, until 1750 when he returned to Leiden and where he settled until his death. De Moni was active as an artist, but he is also recorded as an art dealer and a restorer.

The subject matter of this charming picture also works as a sexual pun, the Dutch verb "vogelen", meaning to hunt birds was also much used in common parlance as a synonym for sexual intercourse. The motif of comely young women, set within niches, selling poultry is common theme within the Leiden school of fijnschilders, and the double entendre would not have been lost on its contemporary audience.

This lot is sold with a copy of a certificate from Dr. Walter Bernt, dated Munich, November 1974, confirming the attribution to De Moni