Lot 56: Pieter van der Werff , Kralingen-Ambacht 1665 - 1722 Rotterdam Nymphs dancing to a pipe-playing shepherd oil on panel

signed and dated lower left: P: V. f WERFF/ AN. o 1717 oil on panel

measurements note 41.7 by 31.8 cm.

G. Hoet and P. Terwesten, Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderyen met derzelver prysen zedert den. 22 Augusti 1752 tot den 21, November 1768, vol. III, The Hague 1770, p. 336, no. 334;
J. Smith, A catalogue raisonné..., supplement, London 1842, p. 561, no. 36, as by Adriaen van der Werff;
G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, vol. III, London 1854, p. 263, as by Adriaen van der Werff;
C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und Kritisches Verzeichnis..., vol. IX, 1928, no. 115, as by Adriaen van der Werff;
B. Gaehtgens, Adriaen van der Werff, Munich 1987, p. 249, under cat. no. 34 (as by Pieter van der Werff, but where erroneously stated as in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh).

William Lormier, The Hague;
His deceased sale, Francken, 4 July 1763, lot 344, for 800 florins to Baillie for Sir James Lowther (1736-1802), later 1st Earl of Lonsdale;
Thence by family descent at Lowther Castle until Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale K.G., G.C.V.O. (1857-1944);
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 2 July 1937, lot 32, for £ 44.2 to Dean (as by Adriaen van der Werff);
Presumably either unsold or bought back at the above sale and thence by descent to James Hugh William Lowther, 7th Earl of Lonsdale (1922-2006);
By whom sold ("The Property of the Trustees of the Earl of Lonsdale"), London, Christie's, 7 March 1980, lot 158, where acquired by the present owner.

A version of this composition by Adriaen van der Werff, with slight changes to the positioning of the nymphs' hands and arms and with the addition of two onlookers at the extreme left, is in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 1945); and a further version which excludes the left hand nymph but includes the figure of Cupid at the extreme left, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. SK-A-467).υ1

1. See Gaehtgens under Literature, pp. 248-50, nos. 34 and 35 respectively.