Gallant Company

Pieter Codde (signed by artist), 1633

Why is this company so merry? This painting depicts several of life’s pleasures. On the left, a singing woman plays the lute. The objects on the table and the pearl earring belonging to the woman in the middle both allude to luxury. The toiletries on the table, including a mirror, likely allude to vanity. The bed and the two gentlemen entering with a hare and a partridge are a nod to another kind of pleasure: ‘chasing the hare’ and ‘birding’ were euphemisms for making love.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-4844
  • Dimensionssupport: height 54.2 cm x width 68.4 cm, outer size: depth 6.7 cm (support incl. frame)
  • Physical characteristicsoil on panel

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Gallant Company
    • Cavaliers and Ladies

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-4844

  • Description

    Galante dames en heren. Interieur waarin twee mannen van de jacht terugkeren met geschoten wild: een haas en twee patrijzen. Een staande vrouw neemt de haas in ontvangst. Rond een tafel zitten drie dames, links een vrouw met een luit en rechts twee vrouwen die bij een spiegel sieraden aan het passen zijn. Aan de rechterkant van de kamer staat een bed waartegen een cello en een kandelaar geleund staan, rechts een hond. Boven de deur hangt een schilderij met het portret van een man.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • date, above the door: ‘1633’
    • signature, in ligated monogram, on a mirror on the table: ‘PC’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    painter: Pieter Codde (signed by artist)

  • Dating

    1633

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on panel

  • Dimensions

    • support: height 54.2 cm x width 68.4 cm
    • outer size: depth 6.7 cm (support incl. frame)

This work is about

  • Subject

Exhibitions

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Rijksmuseum-Stichting

  • Acquisition

    purchase 1986-12

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    ...; collection Van Essen, Vik, Sweden;{Granberg I, 1911, p. 110, no. 485.}...; collection Carl U. Palm, Djursholm, 1911;{Granberg I, 1911, p. 110, no. 485.}...; collection William Gibson, Jonsered, Sweden;{Stockholm 1967, p. 40.}...; sale, the Albright Leasing Corporation et al. [anonymous section], London (Christie’s), 30 November 1973, no. 94;...; collection Mr L.G. Holtom, Harbledown (Canterbury);{Note RMA.} from whom on loan to the Rijksmuseum, through the mediation of the dealer Richard Green, London, 1974-86; from whom, £ 150,000, to the museum, through the mediation of the dealer Richard Green, London, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Rijksmuseum-Stichting, 1986

  • Remarks

    Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

    • P. Torresan, 'Per una rivalutazione di Pieter Codde', Antichità viva 14 (1975), p. 14-15, afb. 8
    • E. de Jongh, "Erotica in vogelsperspectief', Simiolus 3 (1968/69) p. 41, 43, afb. 13
    • J. Herbert, 'Christie's Reviews of the Season', Londen 1974, p. 41, ill.
    • E. de Jongh, 'Pearls of virtue and pearls of vice', Simiolus 8 (1975/76), p. 78, noot 42
    • G. Kieft, in: Kunstschrift nr. 3 (2002), p. 28 + ill. in kleur
    • P. van Thiel, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 37 (1989), nr. 3, cat.nr. 26

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