Lot 36: Gerrit Zegelaar (1719-1794)

A woman cleaning fish at the entrance of a townhouse indistinctly signed G Zegelaar Pinx centre left oil on panel 27.3 x 22 cm PROVENANCE (Probably) Gerret Braamcamp; sale, Posthumus & Titsingh, Amsterdam, 6 August 1771, lot 294 ( Hoog 11 en breed 8.5 duim, Pnl [height 28.78 and width 22.24 cm, panel] Dit stuk is zeer uitvoerig, en verbeeldt een vrouw die haring verkoopt; zij heeft een in de hand om dien op een bord te leggen [this piece is very elaborate, and depicts a woman selling herring; she holds one in her hand to put it on a plate]) (NLG 105 to C. Wittert). The Conolly family, Castletown, Co. Kildare, Ireland. F.C. Bloomfield (label on the reverse). Anon. Sale, Christie's, London, 31 October 1980, lot 23. Anon. Sale, Christie's, London, 11 March 1993, lot 68. LITERATURE (Probably) R. van Eijnden & A. van der Willigen, Geschiedenis der Vaderlandsche Schilderkunst, II, 1817, p.158. NOTES As pointed out by Van Eijnden and Van der Willigen, loc. cit., the artist, who was deaf and dumb, was not only known for his room-decorations, but also for his portraits and cabinet-pieces. Two cabinet-pieces were recorded in the famous 18th Century collection of Gerret Braamcamp and recorded in his sale of 1771; one depicting a maid carrying a box, the other showing a woman selling herring. The latter can possibly be identified as the present lot, since the dimensions are the same and the description seems to match the present painting (see also under provenance).