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This young woman meets our gaze as she raises a fingertip of sugar to her mouth. The painting reveals the abundance of foreign luxuries that flowed into the Dutch Republic through global trade. Sugar, imported from Brazil and the Caribbean, fills the gleaming silver bowl—crafted from metal mined in South America. Her glossy satin gown is woven from Chinese silk. Schalcken intertwines the sensual pleasures of sugar and silk with the woman’s own allure, transforming the painting itself into a seductive object of luxury—designed to entice, especially its male viewers.
Young Woman Eating Sweets
Godfried Schalcken (Dutch, 1643–1706)
1680–85
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
18.7 x 15.6 cm (7 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.)
Framed: 37.1 x 33.7 x 6.4 cm (14 5/8 x 13 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.)
Framed: 37.1 x 33.7 x 6.4 cm (14 5/8 x 13 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession Number2019.2097
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
This young woman meets our gaze as she raises a fingertip of sugar to her mouth. The painting reveals the abundance of foreign luxuries that flowed into the Dutch Republic through global trade. Sugar, imported from Brazil and the Caribbean, fills the gleaming silver bowl—crafted from metal mined in South America. Her glossy satin gown is woven from Chinese silk. Schalcken intertwines the sensual pleasures of sugar and silk with the woman’s own allure, transforming the painting itself into a seductive object of luxury—designed to entice, especially its male viewers.
ProvenanceBy 1752, Johan Diderik van Slingelandt (b. 1703 – d. 1757), The Hague [see note 1]; by descent to his wife, Petronella van Slingelandt van der Burch (b. 1708 – d. 1790), The Hague; November 16, 1790, posthumous Mme. van Slingelandt sale, Thierry and Mensing, The Hague, lot 6, sold to Van Cleef [see note 2]. Johan Goll van Franckenstein Jr. (b. 1756 – d. 1821), Velsen and Amsterdam; by descent to his son, Pieter Hendrik Goll van Franckenstein (b. 1787 – d. 1832); July 1, 1833, posthumous Goll van Franckenstein sale, Amsterdam, lot 71, sold to Woodin. Charles Brind (b. 1788 – d. 1848), London; May 10, 1849, posthumous Brind sale, Christie’s, London, lot 42, sold to J. Brind. Norman Forbes Robertson (b. 1858 – d. 1932), London. Private collection, France [see note 3]. 1996, sold by Haboldt and Co., New York, to Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA; 2019, gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)
NOTES:
[1] According to Gerard Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlyst van schilderyen, vol. 2 (The Hague, 1752), p. 406.
[2] Seller information according to Brill Art Sales Catalogues online, Lugt 4638.
[3] Information about Robertson and the French private collection is taken from Anja Sevcik, Schalcken: Gemalte Verführung (Cologne, 2015), cat. 32.
NOTES:
[1] According to Gerard Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlyst van schilderyen, vol. 2 (The Hague, 1752), p. 406.
[2] Seller information according to Brill Art Sales Catalogues online, Lugt 4638.
[3] Information about Robertson and the French private collection is taken from Anja Sevcik, Schalcken: Gemalte Verführung (Cologne, 2015), cat. 32.