Oil painting, 'The Intruder: Dead Game, Live Poultry and Dog', Jan Weenix, 1710

A barking dog has lept onto a wicker basket, overturning it and startling not only the pigeons inside, one of whom escapes upwards, but also two squawking roosters beside it; a pile of dead birds hang from a carved stone relief at left

Bequeathed by John Jones

Bequeathed by John Jones, 1882
John Jones (1800-1882) was first in business as a tailor and army clothier in London 1825, and opened a branch in Dublin 1840. Often visited Ireland, travelled to Europe and particularly France. He retired in 1850, but retained an interest in his firm. Lived quietly at 95 Piccadilly from 1865 to his death in January 1882. After the Marquess of Hertford and his son Sir Richard Wallace, Jones was the principal collector in Britain of French 18th century fine and decorative arts. Jones bequeathed an important collection of French 18th century furniture and porcelain to the V&A, and among the British watercolours and oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A are subjects which reflect his interest in France.

Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix-xx

See also South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Jones Collection. With Portrait and Woodcuts. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 11, Henrietta Street. 1884.
Chapter I. Mr. John Jones. pp.1-7.
Chapter II. No.95, Piccadilly. pp.8-44. This gives a room-by-room guide to the contents of John Jones' house at No.95, Piccadilly.
Chapter VI. ..... Pictures,... and other things, p.138, "The pictures which are included in the Jones bequest are, with scarcely a single exception, valuable and good; and many of them excellent works of the artists. Mr. Jones was well pleased if he could collect enough pictures to ornament the walls of his rooms, and which would do no discredit to the extraordinary furniture and other things with which his house was filled."

Historical significance: Jan Weenix (1642-1719) was the son of the painter Jan Baptist Weenix and probably received his earliest training from his father. He most likely remained in Utrecht after his father’s death and by 1664 had become a member of the Guild of St Luke. While he initially painted landscapes, after 1680, Jan began painting numerous still-lifes of dead game and birds, flower pieces and statuary for which he is best known, such as Still-life with Dead Hare (1682; Karlsruhe, Staatl. Ksthalle), which shows a meticulously rendered hare with small birds and hunting gear. Exquisitely painted and observed, 603-1882 is set in a landscape with a sculptured relief depicting playful putti and is flooded with warm light from the left. Such hunting or trophy still-lifes, while not always appreciated in the 20th century, were highly valued in the 17th century. Hunting was a royal sport and a favourite aristocratic activity; it was strictly regulated and illegal for even the rising bourgeoisie. It has been suggested, that these still-lifes were purchased by wealthy burghers in order to lend themselves a degree of social prestige. Although they could not hunt, they could buy art. Jan and his cousin Melchior d’Hondecoeter, who painted similar hunting still-lifes, emphasized the textural and colouristic beauty of their subjects. At the beginning of the 18th century the hunting still-life became increasingly popular for stately wall decorations. From c. 1702 to 1714 Jan served as court painter to the Elector Palatine John William of Düsseldorf, for whom he painted 12 large hunting scenes designed as wall panels (c. 1710–14) for the Elector’s lodge, Schloss Bensberg, near Cologne, fragments of which survive (Munich, Alte Pin.). The subject and execution of 603-1882 fits well with the Munich paintings and the Deerhound with Dead Game and Implements of the Chase of 1708 (National Gallery, NG238), and may also have been commissioned by the Elector Palatine for his hunting lodge.

This work appears to combine elements of 'genre painting' and 'still-life' both popular subjects for paintings in the Netherlands from the 17th century onwards. The term ‘still life’ conventionally refers to works depicting an arrangement of diverse inanimate objects including fruits, flowers, shellfish, vessels and artefacts.The rare and exotic objects normally depicted in still-life testify to the prosperous increase in wealth in cities such as Amsterdam and Haarlem but may also function as memento mori, or vanitas, that is, reminders of human mortality and invitations to meditate upon the passage of time. Genre painting generally represented aspects of low class society, especially peasants, but soon came to also represent exponents of more elevated classes. These pictures usually depict scenes of everyday life set in domestic interiors or in the countryside. Scholars are still debating whether they bear a metaphorical meaning and hidden messages. In both case they are associated with health, pleasure and liberty.

Although catalogued by Long (1923) as after Weenix, there now appears to be no reason to doubt that this is a genuine work by Jan Weenix.

A barking dog has lept onto a wicker basket, overturning it and startling not only the pigeons inside, one of whom escapes upwards, but also two squawking roosters beside it; a pile of dead birds hang from a carved stone relief at left. Jan Weenix (1642-1719) was the son of the painter Jan Baptist Weenix and probably received his earliest training from his father. While he initially painted landscapes, after 1680, Jan began painting numerous still-lifes of dead game and birds, flower pieces and statuary for which he is best known. Exquisitely painted and observed, 603-1882 is set in a landscape with a sculptured relief depicting playful putti and is flooded with warm light from the left. Such hunting or trophy still-lifes were highly valued in the 17th-18th centuries. Hunting was a royal sport and a favourite aristocratic activity; it was strictly regulated and illegal for even the rising bourgeoisie. At the beginning of the 18th century the hunting still-life became increasingly popular for stately wall decorations. From ca. 1702 to 1714 Jan served as court painter to the Elector Palatine John William of Düsseldorf, for whom he painted 12 large hunting scenes designed as wall panels (c. 1710–14) for the Elector’s lodge, Schloss Bensberg, near Cologne, fragments of which survive (Munich, Alte Pin.). The subject and execution of 603-1882 fits well with the Munich paintings and may also have been commissioned by the Elector Palatine for his hunting lodge.

603-1882