Pieter (1580) Holsteijn Sold at Auction Prices

Pieter Holsteijn I ( c. 1580-1662)

A hail with horns and a tail signed with monogram 'PH fc' black lead, pen and grey ink, watercolour, brown ink framing lines, fragmentary watermarkfoolscap, framed 128 x 183mm. PROVENANCE J. le Francq van Berkhey, his inscription on part of the old mount: 'Lepus cornutus Sive Lepo-Cervus. ad vivum depictus. Pictore Pet. Holstein gehoornde haas.', implying that the subject was drawn from life; Dankmeijer, Amsterdam, 29 March 1785, lot 436. Anon. sale, Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 1 December 1986, lot 115, illustrated (Nlg. 2.760 to the present owner). This and lot 457 in this sale are part of the collection of Johannes le Francq van Berkhey (1729-1812). He was a doctor of medicine and natural history at Leiden University from 1773 to 1795, whose collection included human and animal remains, botanical specimen as well as books, prints and watercolours. He was also an amateur draughtsman. The tradition of depicting horned hares, based on hunters' tales, was still extant by the time Johann Elias Ridinger (1698-1767) made a print of this subject (Thienemann 322, no.90).