Copy after Gerrit Dou

In the Galerie Moderne auction of 17 and 18 March 2015 (already the subject of another blog post), they also offer a "Dutch school of the 18th or 19th century" work titled "Preparing breakfast" and estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro. The composition and general look seemed rather familiar though.

The original, in reverse, is by Gerrit Dou. As usual, the reversion and the changed colours are evidence that the painting is not based on seeing the original but on an engraving of it. From a simple image, it looks quite decent, but on closer inspection (the auction site provides quite large images, which is great) it turns out to be a rather run of the mill copy, which makes the estimate rather steep. Still, a decorative work, and an original Dou is not really affordable: this original sold in 2006 for £1,1 million! UPDATE: sold for 1,200 Euro.