"Circle of Hondecoeter": original is in the Museum of Ghent

Dorotheum, Austria, sells on 18 October 2016 a "Circle of Hondecoeter" pelican and other birds, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 Euros.

While the auction catalogue indicates in general that it relies on paintings by Hondecoeter, it doesn't note that this is a for the most part faithful and good, but very dirty copy of an original from the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, which was one of the highlights of their late 2015 - early 2016 Golden Age exhibition. The painting was one of the leading images of the exhibiion, and has now a very nice place in the permanent collection, facing a glass cupboard with the same animals in taxidermy. I'm always a bit wary when a painting comes to auction shortly after the original either has been discovered or has received a lot more attention, but in this case, considering the quality of the copy, this may be unwarranted (or at worst it is made by a very good forger).

How good it will turn out to be after cleaning remains to be seen, but it looks as if you will get a very fine painting (much better than most of the Hondecoeter copies one gets at auction) for a reasonable price.

UPDATE: sold for 35,000 Euro, so others saw the potential (and perhaps the origin) as well.