Don't spill, 't has cost money!

Düsseldorfer Auktionshaus, from Germany, sells on 4 May 2018 as lot 135 a "Dutch, 17th century" oil on panel estimated at 200 Euro.

They have deciphered the text at the bottom of the panel nearly correctly: instead of "Stort niet/theyt gel´e kost" it should be "Stort niet  / 'theyt gelt´e kost" meaning "Don't spill / 't has cost money".

It is a typical amusing moralistic painting in the tradition of Teniers, but I haven't found another version of this one. it looks as if the farmer spills either money he is paying to the milkmaid, or seed, from his hat, when he is startled by the dog. The milkmaid at the same time is spilling milk from her yoke. She is perhaps carrying grain or seed which she offered to or received from the farmer, or money she received in return for some milk, although the farmer has nothing to carry the milk in. Of course, with a farmer spilling his seed and the milkmaid spilling her milk, there is a small chance that some subtle sexual innuendo is hidden in the painting. Subtlety wasn't always the strongest point of these artists!

The story isn't exactly clear, and the painting is not made by a major artist, but it is an amusing and relatively unusual 17th century work, much more fun to own than the usual second-rate crucifixions or unidentifiable ugly portraits of long-forgotten sitters, and at 200 Euro it is very cheap. Somewhere closer to 700 or 800 Euro seems reasonable.

UPDATE: a reader informed me (correctly) that the work is a copy after (or more likely an original by) Adriaen Van de Venne (I didn't find the exact work this is based on, but multiple others from the same series), and that it sold for a whopping 8000 Euro, or 40 times their and ten times my estimate. Looking again at the picture, I wonder if there is some signature or date on the rock left of the inscription, but the image is too small to make this out. 

UPDATE 2: this painting was sold at Dorotheum in April 2019, as "Attributed to Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne": estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro, it sold for nearly 14,000 Euro. And they confirmed that there was indeed an inscription on the rock: it was dated 1627! 

Jacob Ochtervelt or Pieter de Hooch?

Duesseldorfer Auktionshaus, from germany, sells on 25 November 2017 as lot 278 a "Dutch Master, 17th century" musical scene, estimated at 400 Euro.

The scene is typical for Jacob Ochtervelt (1634-1682), although with this quality it would be one of his weaker works. Sure enough, the painting was sold as by Ochtervelt in 2007 at Koller West for 4,000 Swiss Francs (some 2,500 Euro). This would mean a serious loss for the seller (who ha enjoyed the work for 10 years, so when one would consider this as a lease, then paying 200 Euro per year to have  this on your wall is not excessive). It is unclear why the auction house doesn't mention Ochtervelt, even to simply call it "School of" or "Follower of", as this work clearly is by or after him.

The Lemon Slice

A Child and Nurse

Ochtervelt was a pupil of Nicolaes Berchem, together with the more famous Pieter de Hooch. They are best known for interior scenes, often involving music making; many of his works feature a dancing dog similar to this one.His standard works fetch between 10,000 and 50,000 Euro, while his truly good works get sold for $600,000 ("The Lemon Slice", Sotheby's 2008) or even $4,000,000 ("Child and Nurse", Sotheby's 2014)!

The Dancing Dog, 1669, Shenandoah Museum

Dancing Dog, 1669, Wadsworth Atheneum

This work is far from those dizzy heights of course, and is much closer to the above works. I guess it should be worth about the price it fetched 10 years ago, 2,000 to 3,000 Euro; the current estimate is way too low.

Apart from Ochtervelt, there is one other name who regularly made similar works: Pieter de Hooch. These works seem to be among the weakest works by De Hooch though, so I wonder whether these aren't by Ochtervelt instead (who at his best made very fine orks, but seems to have made more mediocre works than e.g. de Hooch). The above wa sold at Sotheby's in 2000 as a De Hooch, is signed, and is accepted as by De Hooch at the RKD: but the quality seems really below what one might expect from him, and much closer to the work for sale. Still, it sold for $137,000, so what do I know?

"Unknown, 16th century": Close to Barthel Bruyn, or a Flemish Master?

Duesseldorfer Auktionshaus, from Germany, sells on 25 November 2017 as lot 178 an "Unknown master, 16th century" portrait of a lady, estimated at 800 Euro.

It looks definitely German, and seems to be close to the works of Barthel Bruyn the Elder (1493-1555) or the Younger (ca. 1530-1610). They often portrayed similar women with elaborate headdresses, large jewels, and fine hands with flowers in them.

Details show that the work is finely painted, but seems to lack some finish, perhaps due to too much cleaning. It could also be a later copy, but it seems rather well done in that case. The jewel shows some seated figure, perhaps a Christ child?

Most Bruyn portraits of woman (and most woman portraits from the period in general) look to the left, as they were the rightside panel of either a diptych (with the portrait of their husband) or a triptych (with the husband as the left wing, and central some religious scene). A woman looking right is probably some unmarried woman (e.g. a widow). 

Comparable works by Bruyn are e.g. this portrait of a woman from the San Diego Museum: she is also holding a flower and has her hand on the lower frame, which gives a realistic, lifelike effect loved by e.g. the Early Netherlandish painters as well.

Other portraits also show similarities, but somehow the artist doesn't seem to match with the work for sale.Bruyn's works almost always have a monochrome background, the figures look horizontally ahead (not somewhat downward like in the work for sale), and some elements are done somewhat differently (like the shadows).

Looking further, and a bit more in the direction of Early Netherlandish painters, brought me first to Jan Provoost (1462-1529). Especially the above 1505 portrait has some clear links to the work for sale, e.g. in the headdress. This may help to better date the work for sale (which would then be a very early 16th century work), limiting the number of possible named artists. However, other works by Provoost don't really remind me of the one for sale.

Jan Mostaert

Jan Mostaert, ca. 1515-1520 

Master of Frankfurt, detail of Saint Catherine

Joos van Cleve

Better possibilities seem to be some contemporaries like the Master of Frankfurt (1460-1533), Jan Mostaert (1475-1555) or even at a stretch Joos van Cleve (1485-1540), who is probably a bit too late for this.

In summary: this work is probably Flemish, first quarter of the 16th century. Artist and sitter are unknown, but the position of the woman, facing right instead of left, is unusual and may point to some form of independent status. The work has had some damage (overcleaning), but even so the estimate is way too low and even as an anonymous work this should be closer to 5,000 Euro.