Additional Images

Provenance:

Collection of the artist Miss L. Maes, (granddaughter of Nicolaes Maes (1632-1693), Dordrecht);
Annie Kooiman an ancestor of the present consignor’s family of Dordrecht, Holland. The Kooiman’s owned a shipyard at Zwijndrecht across the river from the oldest church in the Netherlands, the “Doom Dordrecht”;
By descent to the present Private Collection, Canada

Literature:

Seymour Slive, Dutch Painting, 1600-1800, 1995, p. 113

Note:

The handwritten inscription to the label verso is almost illegible. It is addressed to “Annie” (Kooiman) and begins with the citing of “Nic” (Nicolaes Maes) with his birth and death dates ... (”1632-1693”) ... the name “L. Maes” is legible ... “klein dochter” ...(indistinct) ending with the date “1750” (possibly the date of the watercolour or the death date of L. Maes). The note is signed illegibly and it is unknown who wrote this note glued to the back.

According to the family, who held this work in their collection for some 200 years, L. Maes was born sometime in the 17th century and lived to possibly 1750 (gleaned from the broken handwritten note verso). She was the granddaughter of artist Nicolaes Maes (1632/4-1693) of Dordrecht. Nicolaes Maes is heralded by Seymour Slive as “the best know pupil of Rembrandt.” Nicolaes Maes likely worked with Rembrandt during the 1650s before returning to Dordrecht in late 1653.

This watercolour was passed down to the present owner from his mother’s side (Kooiman family). They were shipbuilders from Dordrecht, the oldest city in the Netherlands. According to the family, L. Maes also painted in oils.