Hendrik Van Der Borcht

Hendrik van der Borcht A Collection of Ancient Objects signed 'HVBorcht' (lower right) oil on copper 10 x 8 3/8 in. (25.4 x 21.3 cm.) Provenance with D.H. Cevat, London, circa 1958. Exhibited Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Age of the Marvellous, 25January 1992 - 22 March 1992, No. 12. Worcester, Worcester Art Museum, The Collector's Cabinet: FlemishPaintings from New England Private Collections, 6 November 1983 -29 January 1984, no. 5. Lot Notes This remarkable still life of antique objects and coins is,despite the unmistakable signature 'HVBorcht', impossible toattribute with certainty. The artist is either Hendrik van derBorcht the Elder (1583-1660) or the Younger (1614-1665), a fatherand son who shared both a passion for antiquities and a patron,Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, whose extensive art collection waswidely admired. We know of only two other extant still lifes attributed to eithervan der Borcht, both representing antiquities and painted oncopper. One, a large composition of circular format, features anornate arrangement of statues, coins and medals, together withvases and a bowl, against a dark green ground (Hermitage,Leningrad). The second, of horizontal format, is closer incomposition to the Held still life (Historisches Museum,Frankfurt). Interestingly, several items appear in more than onestill life, such as the late sixteenth/early seventeenth centuryseated female figurine (seen in the present work and the Frankfurtpainting), the bust of a scowling man (featured in both theFrankfurt and Leningrad paintings), and several of theclassically-styled cameos grouped at lower left; this would suggestthat they come from an actual collection, perhaps once belonging tothe artist himself. Thanks to van der Borcht's incredibly detailed depictions of thevarious antique coins and medals in the present still life, all arerecognizable to contemporary scholars. All but two are genuineGreek and Roman artifacts: the bronze sestertius from the reign ofTiberius and the bronze medallion from the reign of Marcus Aureliusare both, in fact, Renaissance copies attributed to Giovanni daCavino (1500-1570). Though not originally intended as forgeries,these and other works by the Paduan artist were so skillfully castas to be nearly indistinguishable from originals, and werefrequently sold to unsuspecting collectors as authentic. The other objects in the present compositional group include astatuette of a urinating Hercules, likely also a Renaissancereplica of a classical bronze, based on the shiny patina of themetal. The marble torso of Aphrodite is probably an antique, as isthe bronze female bust, which would have functioned as a furnituremount. Both the narrow glass vase and the terra-cotta urn are of acharacteristically Roman type.

Signed Antwerpen 1884 - 40 x 29,5 cm HENDRIK VAN DER BORCHT

Attributed to Hendrik van der Borcht (Brussels 1583-1651Frankfurt) The Golden Age oil on panel 29 5/8 x 40¼ in. (75.3 x 102.2 cm.) Lot Notes This painting derives from Abraham Bloemaert's celebrated GoldenAge, which exists in a drawing of 1603 (Frankfurt) and an engravingby Nicolaes de Bruyn of 1604. There is no surviving correspondingoriginal in oil by the artist. Bloemaert's print was the mostambitious treatment of the subject at this date. Sold with a copy of a certificate from Professor Justus MüllerHofstede (8 July 1989) proposing the attribution to Hendrik van derBorcht in full.