Finding the artist behind a set of engravings

Gers Gascogne, from France, sells on 17 July 2020 a series of 12 "old" engravings showing the months, in 4 frames, with an estimate of 40 to 60 Euro.

This seemed cheap, so I tried to find who the artists were behind this series (both the designer and the engraver). Sadly, the images are rather blurry, so I had trouble deciphering the texts on the engravings.

Only for the January example was a somewhat better example available, which seemed to show that no indication of engraver or publisher was visible on the engraving. But it made the inscription readable, and thus searchable.

The line "Lignis instrue focum" appears on an engraving of January by Lucas van Doetecum. Wow, good news, the van Doetecums were some of the most important engravers of the late 16th century, working for Hieronymus Cox and e.g. engraving a lot of works of Pieter Bruegel. Google linked me to the Met Museum, which owns a copy and described the inscription. Too bad, no image available. The dimensions seem wrong though, 26 by 35 cm vs. the 18 by 23 for the lot for sale.

I also found another set of engravings with the same inscription, this time at the Escorial, by Petrus van der Borcht. Again, no image... Size was 20 by 24, so a lot closer to the ones here, and a possible match. Oh no, they say the inscription on theirs is "Januar.", while we are looking for "Januarius"...

But the same site also has a set of 12 by Van Doetecum, and this time the dimensions are 20 by 24cm, so perhaps this is the one we are looking for? But again the inscription is "Ianuar.", not "Ianuarius".

Which brings us to the final of the just four Google hits for this three-word search: the graphical collection of the Milan Library. Clicking through brought me a dedicated page for this very engraving, with an image. Finally, success! It's not a complete match though, as this one has a location and artist mentioned: Cologne (Coloniae Agrippinae), and "Ian Buchsmachr".

Not a name I'm familiar with, and one for which very little information is available it seems. An old book on German engraving claimed that this set of 12 months was made by Mathias Quad. Another book, from 1895 this time, claims that one set can be found in Dresden and is there attributed to Adriaen Collaert. I can't find any recent images of works by either Quad or Collaert showing these engravings though. I did learn that Buchsmachr is better known as Johann Bussemacher, engraver and printer (mainly of maps, often engraved by Quad) active around 1600 in Cologne.

So, now we know that some (original? later?) version was printed in Germany around 1600. Which tells us nothing about the one for sale here, nor about who designed and engraved it originally (if not Bussemacher).

And then a long and rather frustrating image search followed, having exhausted all text researches. I'll not tire you with all things I didn't find, let it suffice that in the end I came across a completely different artist and region: Étienne Delaune (1518-1583). He made multiple series of the 12 months, this is the first one from 1561. 

But (and with these engravings, the number of "buts" has been impressive), the ones for sale are not the original ones by Delaune, or at least not the first state, which had a more "handwritten" lettering, and no numbers to the right of the months.

A version which looks (from the very small pictures) to be the same as the one for sale here (though obviously in better condition) was sold at Bassenge in 2014 for 1,800€, wow! Interestingly, they reference some literature about these engravings, which give Gerard van Groeninge as a possible designer, and link them to the series of 12 months by Van Doetecum, which was the first thing I encountered in my search! The circle is round after all, even though the ones for sale are sadly not the Van Doetecum works, nor the first state of the Delaune ones. 

So at the end of all this, I know who the original engraver of these 12 works was, although I don't know yet who was the artist of the designs; I still haven't found any other copies of the versions I am researching though, only two others sets (the original set in two states, and the Cologne version), which is a bit frustrating. Because they don't bear the name of the engraver or publisher, they probably are usually catalogued as anonymous or with a wrong attribution. 

If they were in good condition, I would have bid on them, but as it stands, and taking into account shipping costs, I'll pass, though with some regret. 

UPDATE: sold for 1,200 Euro, 30 times the estimate!


The same auction has some other lots which are mainly interesting if you can pick them up yourselves, avoiding shipping and handling costs. 

Lot 75 is an engraving with an "undecipherable" signature, which is a 1648 work "Pater Familias" by Adriaen van Ostade. Looks like a later copy though, but at 5 to 8 Euro you can't really go wrong here.

UPDATE: sold for 55 Euro, a much more logical price.

Lot 105 is a Picasso Domino, estimated at 8 to 15 Euro. This was originally a limited edition (some 2000 copies) from 1960, in which case it is worth around 200 to 300 Euro. Later (post-1985) versions exist, with a CE mark and without certificate, and these are worth around 50 Euro. A good buy in any case. 

UPDATE; sold for 70 Euro.

Family prayer before the meal

Henry's, from Germany, sells on 31 October a "Flemish Master of the 17th century" Family before the evening meal, estomated at 600 to 1,300 Euro.

I seem to remember that it was offered a few months ago with a higher estimate, but didn't sell then. I can't find an artist or direct example for this interesting work, but I have found some similar examples.

The closest is the above Adriaen Van Ostade (image from the Rijksmuseum), a poor family before the meal. The family in the picture for sale seems somewhat better off, but still not an obviously wealthy family. The clothing of the boy in both paintings is similar as well, which probably dates the one for sale to the same period as the Ostade from 1653.

Family portraits were common in 17th century Dutch and Flemish painting (I think this one is more Dutch than Flemish), but usually were either the rich and powerful, or the moralising works by Jan Steen and the like. The circle of Van Ostade and similar artists is about the only one that depicted these more everyday family events, and that makes this, despite the relative lack of artistic value or attribution, an interesting and worthwhile painting. A curio, but a nice enough one.

UPDATE: sold for 750 Euro.

"17th century, unsigned" may be an Isaac van Ostade (probably a very good follower)

Carlo Bonte, from Bruges, sells on 28 October 2015 a "No visible signature, 17th century Animated Scene on a farmyard" oil on panel, 52 by 67 cm and estimated at only 300 to 500 Euro.

If it is 17th century (and not, say, a 19th century copy), then this is a bargain even as an anonymous work, as it is of much higher quality than the countless similar boring works that appear at auction. In fact, it is so good that it may perhaps be attributed to a well-known name instead, or should be situated close to him.

The work for sale closely resembles some works by Isaac van Ostade (1621-1649), a short-lived Dutch (not Flemish) painter from Haarlem, who is one of the early masters of this folksy genre.  The above 1641 work, from the Norton Simon Collection in Pasadena, is the closest I could find. The composition, atmosphere, colouring, ... are very similar (without one being a copy of the other), with the typical watching children, the man in the door, the dog, the way the stones in the wall are depicted, ... Some things differ, like the foliage, and the Pasadena work is more lively, but they are either by the same painter or the painter of the work for sale was heavily inspired by Ostade.

Also comparable, though clearly a better work, is the pictured one, sold at Sotheby's in 2013 for £182,500. E.g. the watching children on the right are close to the ones in the work for sale. Again, the Ostade from Sotheby's is a more lively work.





UPDATE: the work is again for sale at Herbette, in France, on 19 June 2016, with an estimate of 4,000 to 6,000 Euro and described as "Workshop of Van Ostade". No surprise there ;-)

UPDATE 2: and again for sale at Herbette on 29 January 2017, now for 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.