Provenance

– From the former collection of the famous Hungarian art collector and dealer Mr Marczell von Nemes;
– his collection sale Munich, Hugo Helbing, 2 November 1933, to Mondersheim;
– Collection of the architect Joseph Behr;
– with Alfred Brod Gallery, London, 1964;
– sale London, Christie’s, (Mr. L.A. Basmadjieff and others: Ploenies de (countess), Duke of Buccleuch, John Evelyn, James Pope-Hennessy, 19-20 July 1973, no. 186, no ill.;
– with Central Picture Galleries, New York, where purchased by the former owner’s father;
– sale Bonhams, London 2014;
– private Dutch collection;
– with Douwes Fine Art, Amsterdam, restored, framed and researched, on show at TEFAF Maastricht 2016;
– private collection, The Netherlands.

Exhibited

– Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, ‘Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp 1594-1652’, 2002, no.28A.

Literature

– S. Paarlberg, A. Chong, ‘Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp 1594-1652’, exhibiton catalogue Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, 2002, p.138, ill. no. 28A (with incorrect measurements).

Expertise

Accompanied by a report of The Art Loss Register, dd. 18 May 2017.

Research Expertise Dr. Zoltan Kovacs:

In the collection of the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam there are two paintings that are pendant portraits. The man and the woman were recently identified by Rudi Ekkart at Jacob Gerritsz’s monographic exhibition. Cuyp in Dordrecht in 2002. Because of this we know that the two oval panels will be Willem Willemsz. de Veer (1578-1653), captain of a warship in 1622 and later commander of the navy, and his wife, Maria Huybertsz. of Gernou (1603-1676). According to the inscriptions (Aetatis 66 / JG. Cüyp. Fecit / Ano. 1644; Aetatis 40 / JG.cüyp. Fecit / Ano. 1644) the proposed man and woman were 66 and 40 years old in 1644, respectively. The age difference between man and woman, together with the man’s job description, which is represented by a collar and a command staff, forms the key to identification.

Thanks to the epitaphs in the Grote Kerk in Dordrecht, we know that Willem Willemsz. de Veer, commander of the Rijnstroom, died on October 22, 1653 at the age of 75 and his wife Maria Huybertsdr. from Gernou on February 26, 1676 at the age of 72. The couple were married in Dordrecht in 1622, with the man listed as captain of a warship. One of their children was Margaretha de Veer (1625-1683) who was born in 1625 and married on November 30, 1649 at the age of 24 with the later alderman and mayor of Dordrecht Nicolaes Jacobsz. Stoop (1620-1694). She and her husband were portrayed in 1653 by Aelbert Cuyp. These pendant portraits are currently in Doorwerth on loan from a private collection (Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen, Castle Doorwerth). The man portrayed, Nicolaes Stoop wears a dark suit with a small, flat collar with wide lace trim and acres. The work is signed and dated on the center right (Aetatis 32 A 1653, A Cuyp fecit). His wife, Margarita, wears a dark suit with a lace-trimmed rabbet and akers. She also wears pearl necklaces around her neck and in her hair. The work is signed and dated in the center left (Aetatis 28, A 1653, A Cuyp fecit). The couple was portrayed by Aelbert Cuyp a few years after the marriage. So this portrait shows Margarita de Veer at the age of 28. Our painting bears the year 1645, that is, Margarita at the age of 20. The physiognomic resemblance between the two portraits of the lady is evident despite the 8 year age difference, so we can say that it is undoubtedly about the same woman. The pendant portraits of Margarita’s parents were made in 1644 and one year later, in 1645, hers. The oval format of all three portraits is striking, as is the fact that all three works are of almost the same size. As far as is known, these three portraits are the only ones that Cuyp painted in oval format. It is not a matter of belonging together and painting a family. The shape may have been part of the assignment to link the paintings to older portraits.

Margarita’s husband, Nicolaes Jacobsz. Stoop, played an important role in the life of the city of Dordrecht. He was, among other things, mayor and alderman, regent of the Holy Sacraments Gasthuis in Dordrecht. He was the second son of Jakob Dirksz. Stoop and Herinca Heymans, and mayor of the Municipality of Dordrecht in 1674 and 1675, aldermen in 1657, 1658, 1662, 1663, 1667, 1668. Nicolaes Maes also painted pendant portraits of the couple in 1672 (the man: Gemeentemuseum Den Haag , inv./cat.nr 85-30; the woman: Haags Historisch Museum, The Hague, inv./cat.nr 34-1930).

The couple had five children: Maria (1650-1690), Henrietta (1650-1677), Jacob (1653-?), Willem (1656) and Dirk Hubert (1659-1731). The latter was also a highly respected and remarkable personality in Dordrecht. He founded a fund in 1696. The Stoop fund was founded in 1731. On his death on January 21, 1731, in accordance with his will of 1726, he left an amount of 2000 florins (in bonds) for ‘material assistance to needy descendants’ of his parents, Nicolaas Stoop and Margaretha de Veer, or, as it is stated in the will: ‘the poor friends of the beaten Stoop and the Veer’. Dirk Hubert left behind much more, incidentally. The description of his estate shows that it had a value of more than 200,000 guilders, a capital at that time. The bonds were initially managed by a cousin of Dirk Hubert. At some point, management was taken over by a committee from the descendants. Later again, the assets were contributed to a foundation, the “Stichting Fonds founded by Mr. Dirk Hubert Stoop”, whose directors are called supervisory directors, assisted by an administrator.

Dr. Zoltan Kovacs
Head of Archive and Art Historical Documentation, National Museum of Budapest, Hungary