Johanna van Frijtom

Anderson & Garland, of England, sell on 15 July 2020 a "Johanna van Frytom" Vertumnus and Pomona, estimated at £400 to £600.

Johanna van Frijtom (1662-1740) (also: Jannetje Frijtom) was one of the rare female painters in the seventeenth century. Born and living in Delft, she was the daughter of (porcelain) painter Frederick van Frijtom and Pauline "Lijntje" Stevens. Only some 5 paintings by Johanna are attested, including one with card players in a collection in Stockholm, and a portrait of a lady which was sold in 1830 in Brussels (and which may be the same as a self portrait in the inventory of her father), and a portrait of her father? 

The other two are both depictions of Vertumnus and Pomona, one in the City Museum "Het Prinsenhof" in Delft, and the one for sale here. The one in Delft (image via the RKD) is slightly larger (60 by 55 instead of 56 by 47).

The work in Delft (and thus also the one for sale now) is clearly inspired by a work by Thomas van der Wilt (or the 1688 engraving by Jan Brouwer, shown from the Rijksmuseum). Not only the two persons, but also her walking stick, the stone vase, the bird, ...

According to the "Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon Nederland", the version of the Vertumnus for sale now was sold in 1983 as a work by her father.

Invaluable shows that it was offered for sale at Cheffin's in 2009, with an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000 at the time, but remained unsold. It was then in a "private collection, Newcastle", and the current sale is in Newcastle... It is not clear whether they had a much better photograph, or whether the painting has considerably deteriorated in the last 10 years. In either case you will get a better painting (now of after cleaning) than the auction seems to show.

In itself, it is a reasonable but far from brilliant painting, based on (but not purely copied from) an engraving: even then, £400 would be cheap, but not by much.

However, as a signed work by one of the few female painters active in the Netherlands (or anywhere for that matter) around 1700, it is very cheap, and a unique chance to acquire a work by her. It is not at the level of works by Ruysch, Peeters, Leyster or Wautier, but most of us can't afford paintings by these anyway. It should fetch at least a few thousands pounds if enough collectors and museums realise its rarity.