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Peasants playing dice (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1610-1690

Title

Peasants playing dice (recto)

Date of Production

(circa) 1648 - 1649

Medium

graphite (recto and verso) on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 21.3 cm
Width: 34.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2802

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords







Label Text

This gambling scene is executed in graphite, a medium typical of Teniers who is considered a pioneer in the technique. Here it permitted him to hatch the background rapidly while rendering the figures precisely. Besides using sketches such as this as preparatory studies for prints and paintings, Teniers also produced them for sale. In contrast to the loud and crude tavern gatherings of artists like Adriaen Brouwer, his calm scene assigns dignity to the peasants absorbed in their game.

Provenance

Lord Egmont; Henry Oppenheimer, London (1859-1932); his estate sale, Christie's (London), 10 - 13 July 1936, lot 319A; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Special Display - Drawing Peasants, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/09/2010-10/02/2011

Bruegel: une dynastie de peintres, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 18/09/1980-18/11/1980

Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977-January 1978 ...More

High Life, Low Life: David Teniers the Younger, Rye Art Gallery, 1972 (Apr.-May)

Tekeningen van Jan van Eyck tot Rubens / De Van Eyck à Rubens: les maitres flamands du dessin, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 17/12/1948-01/02/1949; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 08/02/1949-16/03/1949; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 17/03/1949-03/05/1949

catalogue untraced, San Francisco, 1938 ...Less

Literature

Cavalli-Björkman, Görel, et al., Dutch and Flemish paintings. III Flemish paintings, c. 1600-c. 1800, Stockholm, 2010
pp. 391-92, under no. 206

Klinge, Margareta, 'David Teniers der Jüngere als Zeichner, Die Antwerpen Schaffenszeit (1633-1651)' in 'Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten', 1997 - 71-282
pp. 140-42 and no. 28 on p. 244
pl. 28 on p. 141

Bruegel: une dynastie de peintres, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1980
cat. no. 242
ill. ...More

Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977- January 1978
cat. no. 69

High Life, Low Life: David Teniers the Younger, Rye Art Gallery, April - May 1972
cat. no. 17
no. 17

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 131

Christie's. The famous Collection of Drawings by Old Masters formed by the late Henry Oppenheimer, Esq., FSA (1936) ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, graphite: figures at far left and right each labelled "J" on their jackets, as are the trousers of the man seated behind the table; two figures at centre labelled "S" - one on his waist, also with a "V" on his cap, the other on his upper arm; figure seated on bench labelled "M" on his back, the bench itself also labelled "M"; table in right background labelled "V"; lower right edge, on edge of desk, light brown ink, so faded now almost illegible: "D. Teniers". Verso: lower left, graphite: "Ld Egmonts Collection".

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