Details
JACOB GERRITSZ. CUYP (DORDRECHT 1594-1652)
A man wearing a hat and holding a goose and letter; and A young woman wearing a straw hat and holding a hen and a basket of eggs
the first: signed and dated 'JG cüÿp. fecit / i1652.' ('JG' interlaced, upper right; partially reworked?) and inscribed 'MoN . oÿe: / faict toút' (lower right, on the letter); the second: signed and dated 'JG cüÿp. fecit / i1652.' ('JG' interlaced, lower left; partially reinforced?)
oil on panel
1212 x 1038 in. (31.7 x 26.4 cm.) each
a pair
Provenance
Mrs. E.W. Edwards, by 1970 (according to a label on the reverse).
Exhibited
Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, 1970, on loan.
Brought to you by

Lot Essay

Images of men holding fowl and women with baskets of eggs frequently appear in the work of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert, with whom Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp probably studied in the second half of the 1610s, and his sons Hendrick and Cornelis (see, for example, Abraham's An old man with a chicken in The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg and Hendrick's Old woman selling eggs in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Such works often carried sexual connotations, with the Dutch verb vogelen (literally, 'to bird') meaning both to hunt birds and to copulate. Furthermore, the paintings bear a close relationship with the popular subject of the hennetaster, which likewise carried overtly erotic associations.
Several similar pairs of paintings by Cuyp, also with the sheet of paper inscribed with the proverb 'money does everything', are known, including examples today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn.

Related Articles

Sorry, we are unable to display this content. Please check your connection.

More from
Old Master Paintings and Sculpture
Place your bid Condition report

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

I confirm that I have read this Important Notice regarding Condition Reports and agree to its terms. View Condition Report