"17th century Spanish School" is altered copy after Van Dyck

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, from England, sell on 12 july 2016 a "Spanish School, 17th century" Armoured horseman, estimated at £300 to £500.

It is a copy (with variations) of the famous portrait of Charles I by Van Dyck. No idea why it is supposed to be Spanish, perhaps some romantic idea of Don Quixote playing in the mind of the auctioneer? The painting's not all bad, it starts of course from a brilliant composition, but with some basic cleaning a decorative work may appear. Nothing more than that though. Just somewhat unusual, also in its description, not valuable

Deciphering labels to identify sitters

Murray's, from the Isle of Man, sell on 2 July 2016 a "19th c. English" portrait of a woman, estimated at £350 to £500.

It has a number of papers stuck to the back, one barely readable letter and one paper identifying the sitter. The auctioneer has deciphered this paper as follows:

"Selina Dowager of Governor Passon of St. Helena and widow of General Lumsdaine, then wife of William Walker Rowley (b 1790, d 1873)"

The actual text, with some further research, seems to be:

"Selina, daughter (!) of Governor Patton (!) of St. Helena and widow of general Lumsdaine, then wife of William Walker Rowley (b 1790 (c), d. 1873).

Selina was the 9th daughter and 13th child (out of 10 daughters and 17 children) of Robert Patton (1743-1812), Governor of Saint Helena between 1800 and 1807. She was born 24 September 1793 in Scotland, and died in 1872 or 1873. In 1813 she married James Lunsdaine in India, but he died in 1816. William Walker Rowley was a clergyman, younger than Selina Patton (one site gives 1813 as his year of birth, but that seems too young), who survived her.

And there the trail ends. She apparently had no children, and no claims to fame. But she left behind a nice enough portrait,  though the auction site photos seem to distort it significantly. Probably not worth more than the estimate, but better than many of those anonymous portraits at least.

15th/16th c. Italian drawing: school of Leonardo?

The Swan, from England, sells on 30 June a "15th/16th century Italian drawing" Virgin and child, estimated at £300 to £500.

It is a relatively large (35 by 45 cm) but rather battered looking drawing in the style of Leonardo da Vinci, and looks to be done by a fairly accomplished artist. The inscriptions on the back certainly add to the impression that it is genuinely old. In that case, it should be worth more, at least £1,000 to £2,000 without even guessing who the artist might be.

The drawing depicts a Virgin and Child with a St. Joseph to the left (so really a Holy Family), and the head of an old man more faintly to the upper right. I would describe it as School of Leonardo, but wasn't able to find any paintings really similar to it (many matching elements, but e.g. the child seems to sculpted and muscled to be by Leonardo, and he usually didn't show the ear of the Virgin but hid it beneath hair), and am curious if it will attract a bidding war or not. All ideas on who the artist might be, or what school or date, are welcome!

UPDATE: an anonymous  reader commented (see below this post) and showed me the artist and painting..

This is a painting by Il Sodoma, contemporary of Leonardo but from Siena. The Virgin and Child are quasi identical.

The Joseph can be compared with the one in the above painting.

Are the drawings by Sodoma, a follower, or fakes? Perhaps they are just drawing made by an artist on his Grand Tour seeing the works of Sodoma. But it's good to be able to put a possible name to the origin of them.

UPDATE 2: WITHDRAWN! Last minute withdrawn from the auction. Whether that has anything to do with this blog is anybody's guess of course.

A ca. 1540 portrait of known sitter for 330 Euro? Bargain!

Kunstauktionshaus Leipzig, in Germany, sells on 2 July 2016 as lot 1016 a "German painter, 16th century" portrait of Christoph Gugel (1466-1546), estimated at 330 Euro.

The sitter has also been portrayed in an engraving, and it is clearly the same person, but the engraving doesn't seem to be based on this painting. He was a Chancellor and council to three Holy Roman Emperors, so quite an important person in his day.

While I don't think the portrait can be attributed to any of the great names of the period, it still is a well-painted portrait considering the probable age of it (ca. 1540), and in good condition. To get something like this for 330 Euro would be an absolute bargain.

"Moses saved from the waters" is inspired by Jacob Van Balen and Gerard Hoet

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 26 June 2016 a "17th century" Moses saved from the waters, estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

It seems to be inspired by Jacob Van Balen (RKD) from ca. 1615, but with some newer elements. 

Similar elements can be found in e.g. a drawing  from the School of Rembrandt and especially a drawing by Gerard Hoet from ca. 1700, where some aspects are very close to the work for sale here.

The work is reasonably well painted, but not good enough by far to be by Hoet himself (comparison with a detail of "The head of Cyrus"). It may be a copy after a work by Hoet though. The estimate is about right, perhaps a tad high.

UPDATE: sold for 3,300 Euro, so even a bit above estimate!

Flemish Noli me Tangere is partial copy after Rubens or Jan Brueghel II

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 30 June 2016 a "Flemish Master, 17th century" Noli Me Tangere, estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 Euro.

The same composition can be found multiple times in other works, most attributed to Jan Brueghel II. The best copy, from the Rijksmuseum, is painted in the circle of Rubens. A variation with a straighter standing Christ also exists.

The one for sale, being a copy of lesser quality (and of later date, perhaps 18th century), will struggle to reach the estimate, and is probably worth closer to 3,000 Euro.

UPDATE: Hampel asked me in June 2017 to remove this post (the image and the information) because without permission of the owner of the painting, this was a copyright infringement. Which, obviously, it isn't, and is a preposterous claim. I guess they (owner and auction house) don't like it when I claim that their estimate  is way too high, but to censor this by claiming a copyright infringement and trying to get me to remove my analysis is poor form.

UPDATE 2: Hampel again demanded that I removed the image, or else they would set their lawyers on it. I again told them that they could go and waste their money on lawyers if  they have money to spare, but they don't own the copyright on the image in any case. In 2015, a year before Hampel, the painting was sold at Duesseldorf Auctions (for 600 Euro)...

"Follower of Pieter Codde" is copy after Anthonie Palamedesz

Ader, from France, sells on 24 June 2016 a "Dutch School, 18th century, follower of Pieter Codde" maternity visit, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

It is a partial copy of a work by Anthonie Palamedesz from the Geneva Art Museum, from ca. 1640 (found at RKD). The only saving grace seems to be the subject, which is of course attaractive; otherwise it would be hard-pressed to reach the estimate as a rather poor painting.