A Canaletto Curiosity

Author(s): Paul Ettinger and Dr. Borenius

Source: The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 39, No. 224 (Nov., 1921), pp. 249-250
Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/861401 .
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AUCTIONS
Among the pictures to be sold at CHRISTIE'S early in Novem-
ber particular interest attaches to Rest during the Flight into
Egypt, belonging to Mr. T. Cottrel Dormer, which we are
enabled to reproduce through the courtesy of Mr. Alec Martin,
to whom is due the identification of the artist, namely Adrian
Brouwer [PLATE, I]. Brouwer as a landscape painter has been
long in coming into his own, and to this day the number of
known specimens of this class of his work is rather restricted,
though extending beyond the figure of a dozen or so, which
is given in Dr. Bode's Rembrandt und seine Zeitgenossen
(1902). Not infrequently-and the present picture is a case
in point-has the name of Rembrandt in the past been claimed
for these performances of Brouwer's: and the re-naming of
the superb Landscape with Tobit and the Angel (No. 72), which
long hung in the National Gallery with an ascription to Rem-
brandt, is only one instance among several of the gradual
clearing of our perception of Brouwer as a landscape painter.
In the present example the Rembrandtesque note is also forc-
ibly struck, in the romanticism which governs the whole con-
ception of the scene, in the system of chiaroscuro, and in
many individual motives; but both in scheme of colour and
quality of handling, the individual manner of Brouwer is un-
mistakably discernible, and a passage such as that of the
sharply lighted hill in the middle distance on the left is practi-
cally equivalent to a signature. Of peculiar mastery--discern-
ible even in our reproduction-is the broad and simple
handling of the right foreground, with its rich growth of trees
leaning down to the edge of the stream-a passage curiously
akin to many of Claude's finest efforts in brush and sepia.
MESSRS. SOTHEBY,WILKINSON & HODGE will sell on Friday,
Nov. iith, some interesting examples of furniture, chiefly of
the i8th century. Among the items will be included a pair
of carved gilt tables and two stools to correspond, the pro-
uerty of Col. W. Selby Lowndes.
The fashion, in English furniture, of decorating the cabriole
legs of tables, chairs, and stools with lions' masks on the
knees, and paw feet to correspond, originated about 1720.
Walnut had not lost its vogue at this date, and the earlier
examples were made in this wood. With the introduction of
about 1725, the taste for this lion furniture still
mahogany,
persisted, but was closely followed by the use of the satyr-
mask in place of the lion-head. There is one curious distinc-
tion between the so-called " lion-walnut " and " lion maho-
gany "; the former varies from the very crude to the ex-
tremely fine, whereas the latter is nearly always on a high
plane. Col. Selby Lowndes' tables and stools appear to bridge
two fashions; the lion-head and paw, combined with the
somewhat earlier decoration of raised gesso-work and gilding,
which commenced during the last decade of the I7th century.
In the table shown [PLATE II] the top only is ornamented
with this raised gesso; the legs and framing are carved, in
beech, with a fine free vigour, well gilt over a white prepara-
tion, not so heavily applied as to blunt the sharpness of the
carving. The stools correspond with the tables, and are,
obviously, from the same hand. Although carved from a
LETTERS
A CANALETTO CURIOSITY
SIR,-Referring to your article by Dr. Borenius
on the two Bellottos in Dr. Maynard's collection,
I beg to state that these canvases formerly
belonged to the last King of Poland, Stanislas-
Auguste, and that they figure in a list of the
pictures executed for him by the Venetian artist,
which is quoted in the excellent " Dictionary of
Polish and other painters working in Poland "
by Edward Rastawiecki (Warsaw, 1850). The
two Maynard pictures are by no means unique in
the Polish oeuvre of Bernardo Bellotto, into
which large figure groups frequently enter;
notably the two vast canvases of The election of
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semi-hard wood only, as compared with walnut or mahogany,
from the point of view of rarity these gilt pieces are more
valuable, and in quality they are of the finest. In the scroll
of the knee, prolonged, in the French manner, in a flat fillet
reaching to the under moulding of the top above each lion
mask will be noticed the last vestige of the Louis XIV, which
was introduced into England, via Holland, in the first years
of the reign of William of Orange. Lion furniture in any
wood, by reason of its rarity, has been more copied than any
other fashion in English furniture, and yet, in no other in-
stance is a copy so glaringly obvious, placed side by side with
an original piece. Among other items of interest in the same
sale are a pair of walnut arm-chairs from Fornham House,
Bury St. Edmunds, which are close variations of the well-
known mahogany " Bassett " chair, illustrated on p. 267 of
Percy Macquoid's Age of Mahogany. The chairs at Sotheby's
are more elaborate, and both the design and the cutting are finer.
They appear to be the walnut originals from which the later
mahogany copies were made, at an interval of a decade only.
At Parham is, or was, a single chair of the same design, which
was evidently a favourite one during the years from 1715 to
1730. The Parham chair is aslo in walnut, but the seat
rail is straight in the front, and unornamented. H. C.
MESSRS. SOTHEBY, WILKINSON & HODGE Will sell on Novem-
ber 23rd a selection from the important collection of antiqui-
ties belonging to M. LUonce Rosenberg, of Paris. Besides
some exceptionally good Persian ware, some Chinese pieces,
Greek pottery and Egyptian antiquities, there are in the collec-
tion a number of examples of Indian sculpture. The " plac-
ing " and interpretation of certain of these present unusual
difficulty to the connoisseur, and for that reason they are sure
to attract widespread attention. On purely aesthetic grounds,
however, they are even more important, and those who care
for sculpture will find in the bas reliefs, the little heads and
the steles, subjects for admiration and delight. The sale also
includes (lot 107) an extremely rare Greek libation cup of
silver, the property of Lady Harcourt-Smith. It was dug up
by accident in Acarnania some twenty-five years ago, and may
be remembered by those who visited the Exhibition of Silver-
smith's Work at the Burlington F.A.C. in 19o0.
MESSRS. PUTTICK & SIMPSON will sell at 47, Leicester
Square, on November 8th, a collection of drawings by Joseph
Farington, R.A. The lots include the class of subject to which
the elder and more fortunate of the brothers was devoted;
views of the Thames, Scotland, etc., as well as some
examples of his Flemish work.
C. G. BOERNER, Leipzig, will sell, on Nov. 8th to Ioth, old
and modern engravings. The richly illustrated catalogue con-
tains extensive collections of some of the Little Masters, espe-
cially Alegrever and Altdorfer (with many rarities), and of
Diirer and Rembrandt. The early Diirer woodcut of St.
Jerome (lot. 361, *refer. p. 50) is not the original of 1492, but
the later and inferior of the two copies. The more modern
part of the collection includes an exceptionally large number
of Goya's prints, among which is a complete set of the fam-
ous lithographs, Les Taureaux de Bordeaux. c. D.
Stanislas-Auguste and The entrance into Rome
of the Polish ambassador George Ossolinski in
1633. The first of these very effective composi-
tions exists in two replicas at Warsaw and at
Posen as well as in some contemporary copies,
the second now adorns the Lemberg Gallery.
Both are crowded with figures all painted
with such a brio and combined in so pic-
torially consistent a way with the whole
design that the hypothesis of two hands
is ruled out. Besides, if Bellotto during
his stay at Warsaw had had the help of another
painter for the figure work some contemporary
witness would surely have left a record of the fact.
249
So Dr. Borenius is probably correct in believing of Dr. Maynard's pictures from the Polish
that the figures in the foreground of Christ and Royal collection is confirmed, as I now learn,
the Money Changers are by Bellotto himself. by an inscription on the frames. As we go to
The Bellotto oeuvre in the now dispersed press the photograph of a delightful equestrian
collection of Stanislas-Auguste included another subject by Bellotto-perhaps identical with one
Canaletto curiosity exemplifying the artist's of the above-has also been communicated to
versatility. In this case he appears as a specialist me by Dr. Edward Plietzsch: of this I hope
in the paintings of horses. Rastawiecki in the to treat in the near future.
above mentioned manuscript catalogue speaks of
four Bellotto pictures dealing with such subjects. AN UNKNOWN JAN DE BRAY.
DEAR SIR,-Since some interest is being
One of them depicts Colonel Koenigsfeld teach-
shown in connection with Jan de Bray and that
ing horsemanship to Prince Joseph Poniatowski, seductive portrait of a blonde lady in the Ghent
the favourite nephew of the King and future hero
of the Elster. The other is a stable scene with a Museum, may I draw Mr. Schneider's attention
to an unknown picture by de Bray in the pos-
groom, which belonged before the war to Madame session of Mrs. D'Arcy Wyvill in England.
A. A. Kosen, of Petrograd, who also possessed
the two Bellottos reproduced by you and now in This is Christ among the Doctors, I9in. by
26in., on wood, signed J. de Bray, and dated
the collection of Dr. Maynard. All these four
1661; it seems to reflect a strong interest in
pictures were reproduced in the ' Starye Gody ' Rembrandt. Six doctors are grouped on the
(October-December 1914) accompanied by an left; Jesus stands in the centre, facing right-
article by M. Stephane Yaremitch.
I was much rejoiced to learn from Dr. front; Mary and Joseph are on the right, pro-
file left. She wears blue and light terracotta,
Borenius's article that two of the four lost Kosen
Joseph brown, and Jesus olive green. The pre-
pictures are now in London. It would be very dominant note in the doctors' robes is red.
interesting to know the fate of the other two
canvases, the subjects of which are so unusual in Knowing little of de Bray outside his portraits,
the oeuvre of Bellotto. I should never have guessed that this was his.
Yours faithfully, Although it is not the subject of this note, I
should like to state that Mr. Schneider's attri-
Moscow. PAUL ETTINGER.
bution of the Ghent portrait (which I know well)
[The following is Dr. Borenius's comment on the above
to the author of Dr. Schieffer's Young Man,
letter.]
which I only know by the photograph, seems to
All students of the Venetian Settecento will be me very shrewd.
interested by the above facts communicated by Faithfully yours,
M. Ettinger. I may add that the provenance C. H. COLLINS BAKER.
GALLERY AND MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS FOR SEPTEMBER
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. DAVID ROBERTS, R.A. Interior view of a Cathedral, show-
(The acquisitions marked * are not yet on exhibition.) ing the High Altar.*
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE. Collection of 661 original designs for printed cottons.
Five ivory statuettes. MODERN JAPANESE. Bequeathed 1805.*
by
Lady Pilkington. METALWORK.
Bronze medal by Tulio Kilenyi, awarded by the American Silver taster. ENGLISH, 1651. Given by Percy Woods, Esq.
Car and Foundry Company, 1917-1918. Presented by the
C.B.
American Car and Foundry Company. Gold plaque decorated with a dancing woman in cloisonn6
Plaster bust of a Gentleman. An early cast from an ori- enamel. BYZANTINE; IIth century.
ginal of the second half of the IS8thcentury. Presented General's camp-stool, lacquered wood with engraved copper
by P. Woods, Esq., C.B. mounts. JAPANESE. Presented by H. H. Joseph, Esq
Stone vase. ENGLISH; ISth century. Presented by Miss Iron Knocker. SPANISH; 17th century. Presented by
G. M. Butler. Charles Ricketts, Esq.
Terracotta vase. ENGLISH; i8th century. Presented by PAINTINGS.
Miss G. M. Butler. A. R. SMITH, A.R.W.S. Water-colour drawing, Early
CERAMICS. Morning--Mist Clearing.* Presented by the Artist.
Small earthenware pillow painted in coloured ALBERT GOODWIN, R.S.W. Water-colour drawing, Near
CHINESE(T'ang dynasty). glazes Maidstone. Presented by Miss E. P. McGhee.
Allegorical female figure in white enamelled earthenware. ISOBEL LILIAN GLOAG. Water-colour drawing, The Bride
Probably and Bridegroom.* Presented by Miss M. R. Gloag.
GERMAN; 18th century.
" SIR L. ALMATADEMA. Oil painting (unfinished), Cleopatra at
Dish with blue and white " cachemire design. DELFT Phile, and an oil study for the same.* Presented by the
earthenware, early i8th century. Misses Alma Tadema.
CHARLES VYSE. Fidure of a balloon-woman, earthenware.
Presented through the Nat. Art.-Coll. Fund by Lt.-Col. BRITISH MUSEUM.
CERAMICS.
Dingwall. A goblet-shaped cup, blue and white Chinese porcelain
ENGRAVING, ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN.
with
GEORGE the mark of the Ch' ng Hua period. Purchased.
CHINNERY, R.H.A. Volume of sketches of costume. NATIONAL GALLERY.
architecture, shipping, topography, etc., made in China.* J. B. PERRONNEAU. A Young Girl with a Cat. Pastel,
AXEL HAIG. Interior view of the Church of St. Joan de los signed and dated 1743. Presented by Sir Joseph Duveen,
Reyes, Toledo.* Bt. In Room XXI.

250

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