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A Card Game in a Tavern
Jan Havicksz. Steen (Dutch, 1626–1679)
about 1660
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
45.7 x 60.3 cm (18 x 23 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession Number2021.720
OUT ON LOAN
On display at High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, April 19, 2024 – July 14, 2024
On display at High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, April 19, 2024 – July 14, 2024
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Jan Steen was a master of theatre, and there’s often a second story hiding in his paintings. Here, a fancily dressed woman and a soldier play cards. She’s got a great hand, which she shares with us: aces of clubs and hearts. But it’s not a fair game. Two men are giving her an assist: one plies the soldier with (yet another) drink, while the other, near the fireplace, keeps an eye on the soldier’s cards. The couple in the back room is a hint that this all takes place in a brothel.
InscriptionsSigned lower left: JS (in ligature) teen
ProvenanceFebruary 13, 1824, anonymous (“The Genuine Property of a Gentleman”) sale, George Stanley, London, lot 80, to William Emmerson (dealer), London; 1825, sold by William Emmerson to M. Zachary, London [see note 1]; before 1833, sold by M. Zachary to John Smith (dealer; b. 1781 – d. 1855), London; before 1833, sold by John Smith to Johann Moritz Oppenheim (b. 1801 – d. 1864), London [see note 2]; June 4, 1864, posthumous Oppenheim sale, Christie’s, London, lot 22, to Haines. William Delafield (d. 1870), London; April 30, 1870, posthumous Delafield sale, Christie’s, London, lot 74, to Pearce. By 1884, Samuel Herman de Zoete (b. 1810 – d. 1884), Pickhurst Mead, Hayes [see note 3]; May 8-9, 1885, posthumous de Zoete sale, Christie's, London, lot 283, to Colnaghi, London. 1923, E. Parsons and Sons, London. Vanderbilt family, United States; until 1989, by descent within the family, Santa Barbara, CA [see note 4]; June 2, 1989, anonymous (Vanderbilt) sale, lot 15, sold to Johnny Van Haeften Ltd., London; 1990, sold by Johnny Van Haeften Ltd. to Joost R. Ritman (dealer), Amsterdam; 1995, sold by Ritman to Sotheby’s and Noortman Master Paintings, London and Maastricht; 1995, sold by Sotheby’s and Noortman Master Paintings to Louis Constant de Villeneuve (b. 1923 – d. 2005), Wassenaar [see note 5]; 2005, by inheritance to his children; December 7, 2011, anonymous (de Villeneuve family) sale, Sotheby’s, London, lot 17, to Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA; 2021, gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 15, 2021)
NOTES:
[1] Probably collector Michael Mucklow Zachary (b. 1773 - d. 1837), London.
[2] Provenance from 1825 until 1833 is according to John Smith in Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, vol. 4 (London, 1833), no. 126 and handwritten annotations in the 1924 auction catalogue.
[3] Samuel Herman de Zoete lent the painting to the Royal Academy for Exhibition of the Works of Old Masters (London, 1884), cat. no. 108.
[4] Provenance from 1923 until 1989 is according to the 2011 Sotheby’s catalogue.
[5] According to Geraldine Norman, “A remarkable Dutch auction,” Independent (April 16, 1995). Sotheby’s purchased the Ritman collection en bloc, and partnered with Robert Noortman to sell Ritman’s 18 best Dutch Old Master painting, including A Card Game in A Tavern.
NOTES:
[1] Probably collector Michael Mucklow Zachary (b. 1773 - d. 1837), London.
[2] Provenance from 1825 until 1833 is according to John Smith in Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, vol. 4 (London, 1833), no. 126 and handwritten annotations in the 1924 auction catalogue.
[3] Samuel Herman de Zoete lent the painting to the Royal Academy for Exhibition of the Works of Old Masters (London, 1884), cat. no. 108.
[4] Provenance from 1923 until 1989 is according to the 2011 Sotheby’s catalogue.
[5] According to Geraldine Norman, “A remarkable Dutch auction,” Independent (April 16, 1995). Sotheby’s purchased the Ritman collection en bloc, and partnered with Robert Noortman to sell Ritman’s 18 best Dutch Old Master painting, including A Card Game in A Tavern.