The case of the Great Bustard

Last week (10 and 11 December 2019), Vanderkindere, from Belgium, had an interesting sale with a few lots I was writing a blog post about, when I came across a painting which they had misattributed and undervalued, and which seemed obscure enough to give me a fair chance at buying a sleeper for once. In the end, I didn't win, but the blog post remained unposted as I didn't want to attract more attention to the auction. So, this one is after the fact, but the auction had one major painting, and my sleeper, so it may still be interesting. Plus, Vanderkindere removes the images after the auction, so here's your chance to see a few of them. The quality of the auction was mainly caused by the sale of two relatively important collections, one from Baron Benoît-Adrien de Moffarts, and one from the Castle of Zaventem.

First we had lot 4, a "16th century(?), anonymous" John the Baptist, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

It was based on an engraving by Jacob Matham after Hendrik Goltzius (found via the Rijksmuseum). Even so, it fetched 3,800 Euro, a lot more than I expected.

Lot 43 was a "Follower of Lucas van Valckenborch" Flemish Kermesse with skaters, estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 Euro.

In fact, it didn't show a winter scene with skaters, but people dancing around the May tree! It was sold for 5,600 Euro.

Lot 105 was the star lot of the auction. "Attributed to Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen", the portrait of George Schenck van Toutenburg, stadhouder of Overijssel, estimated at 50,000 to 60,000 Euro. 

People clearly and rightly believed it to be an authentic work by Vermeyen, and heavy bidding saw it end at 520,000 Euro, a very high price for a Belgian auction. Not surprising, Vermeyen was one of the best and most important portraitists of his generation in Northern Europe, and his works are rare on the market, as most of them are in museum collections.

Not a record for this artist though, his incredibly powerful portrait of Joost Aemszoon van der Burch sold for 2,7 million in 2016 at Christie's.

Lot 70 was an "Attributed to Govert Flinck" portrait of an abbess, estimated at 7,000 to 9,000 Euro. It was sold for 9,500 Euro, not too much for this good painting.

 Lot 149 was a "Flemish School, 16th century" Stoning of Saint Stephen, estimated at 800 to 1,200 Euro. It fetched 1,800 Euro instead.

It is a copy after an engraving by Remondini, which I found at the Wellcome collection. I can't find much information on this engraver though, except that he seems to have worked in the 18th century, which is a bit late for this painting.

So I continued looking, and it is more likely to be a copy after an engraving by Jan Sadeler I after Marten de Vos, depicting the Martyrdom of Five Saints (via the British Museum). This engraving also has the same orientation as the painting, which makes more sense.

Lot 154 is a "Dutch School, 17th century, monogram H.V.E." Vanity with soap bubbles, estimated at 600 to 800 Euro. It sold for just 500 Euro.

It is a variation on a work by David Teniers, as can be seen in this version from the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba (found at RKD: looks like a copy to me).

Another version was sold at Van Ham last month (14 November 2019), also as a David Teniers: it fetched 50,000 Euro. This one is even closer to one for sale, when one looks at details like the bottles on the table or the form of the guitar (including the tassel at the end).

Finally, I found the original for the work for sale in the Royal Collection (purchased by George IV). Here as well I'm not convinced that this is an actual Teniers and not some copy (perhaps a workshop copy), real Teniers paintings show a lot more brilliance usually.

The last lot is the one I wanted to buy, but where I didn't succeed. A "Dutch School, late 17th or early 18th century" still life, estimated at 1,000 Euro.

The work seemed immediately underestimated, as it showed clear quality. It also had some rather individual characteristics, like the type of birds or the way the fruit and vegatables was painted.

Some searching led me to Gottfried Libalt (1610-1673), a German-Austrian painter. I stumbled across a work in the National Gallery of Prague showing the exact same bird, though in a different setting, but with the same typical method of painting the subjects. Other works also had similar birds and vegetables, making it quite certain that this was an unknown, misattributed genuine Libalt.

The bird, by the way, looks to be a Great Bustard, a bird most common in Spain but also in Austria and surroundings. It is one of the largest European birds, and an imposing sight, in nature but presumably also on the table of some royalty or high nobility. I have no knowledge of any other painter who ever depicted a great bustard in their still lifes, but they probably exist anyway.

The Vanderkindere work was sold for 7,000 Euro, which I think is a bargain, as it should be worth 25,000 to 30,000 Euro.