Lot 1220: Jan Ekels I (Amsterdam 1724-1781)

The Herengracht, Amsterdam, looking towards the Hartenstraat signed and dated 'J. Ekels Fecit 1764' (lower right, on the tethering post) oil on canvas 43 x 54 cm. (16 7/8 x 211/4 in.). PROVENANCE Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 9 May 1995, lot 4 (to Dreesmann). Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. A-82). NOTES The view depicted shows Herengracht 252 on the far left, and Herengracht 234 on the right near the bridge. In 1764, the year the present lot was executed, the population of this part of the Herengracht consisted of well-to do citizens and merchantmen, whose names are for the most part still recorded. From left to right, the houses depicted and their owners (as recorded by H. de la Fontaine Verwey, Vier eeuwen Herengracht, Amsterdam, 1976, pp. 475/82) were: No. 252: built in 1615, the house was bought by the merchant Philippe Couturier in 1736, who was still living there in 1764. No. 250: Cornelis Jacob Gilles had inherited the house the previous year. No. 248: from 1754 until 1775 this house was owned by Jacob Berthon the Younger and his wife, Benina Sophia Bols. No. 246: owned by notary Hermanus Morr‚ and his wife, Alida Gesina Crull. No. 244: bought in 1764 by Adriaan Koekebakker (nos. 244 and 246 were demolished in 1929). No. 242: built in 1614, this building was bought by the notary Jan Alexander Creyghton in 1762, who sold it at auction in 1764, when it was bought by Sara Maria Ockhuyzen (who was married to Mr. Koekebakker of no. 244) and her sister Johanna Margaretha. No. 240: built in circa 1622, this house was lived in by the banker Homerus Silvius and his wife, Pieternella Pecock. No. 238: built in circa 1622, the apothecary Jeronimo de Bosch had his business here between 1737 and 1767. No. 236: lived in by Coenraad de Bock and his wife Catharina van Nieuwland. No. 234: lived in by Isaak van Nes. No. 232: owned by Marten van der Streng, the place was let to Miss Van den Bosch.