Oil Painting, 'Peasant with a Jug', unknown artist after engraving by Abraham Blooteling after design by Petrus Staverenus, 19th century?

A grinning peasant, wearing a brown hat and red jacket looks out of the painting indicating a small empty glass jug in his right hand.

Bequeathed by Mrs Duroure

Bequeathed by Mrs Duroure, 1864
The V&Acentral inventory indicates that nos. 305/312-1864 were bequeathed by Mrs Duroure and the annual report of the Science and Art Department describes briefly the individual works.
A hand written note (Kauffmann?) in the Paintings object files reads:

'the Duroure pictures are described in the letter of acceptance g 6.4.1864 as follows:
2 small Dutch pictures- drinking subjects
1 landscape, Roman
1 Rubens, Samson and lion
1 Simon Vouel [sic]
1 Sir Walter Raleigh
2 Landscapes, Waterloo'

Historical significance: This painting appears to have been inspired by a series of mezzotint engravings ca. 1670-1690 by the Dutch printmaker Abraham Blooteling who worked in Amsterdam and London after a design by Petrus Staverenus (fl. 1634-54). Staverenus designed a series of works representing the five senses as personified by peasants. The pendant to this painting (309-1864) depicts 'Hearing,' represented as a peasant chinking coins into his hand. The known engravings in this series by Blooteling depict 'Sight,' 'Smell,' and 'Touch.' 'Taste' is missing from the series, which nevertheless appears to have been particularly popular as it was also engraved in the 17th century by Pieter Schenck (1660-1713) and Jan Verkolje (1650-1693). The absence of the fifth sense in the series leads one to speculate that this work was adopted from another series of prints or an independent work. 310-1864 is similar in scale and subject matter to a painting on panel attributed to Straverenus A man brandishing a beer glass (Sotheby's London Dec. 8 2005) though less finely painted and in a considerably different colour palette.

This work is typical of Genre Painting, a style which represented the lower or peasant classes of society that became increasingly popular throughout the 17th century in the Netherlands. These pictures usually depict scenes of everyday life, set in domestic interiors or in the open countryside. Some bear metaphorical meaning or moralising messages, but others may just be intended as representations of daily events. In both cases they are associated with health, pleasure and liberty. The leading figures of the Haarlem school in this field were Adriaen Brouwer (1606-1638) and Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685).

Kauffmann (1973) suggests that this is a 19th century imitation.

A grinning peasant, wearing a brown hat and red jacket looks out of the painting indicating a small empty glass jug in his right hand. This painting appears to have been inspired by a series of mezzotint engravings ca. 1670-1690 by the Dutch printmaker Abraham Blooteling who worked in Amsterdam and London after a design by Petrus Staverenus (fl. 1634-54). Staverenus designed a series of works representing the five senses as personified by peasants. The pendant to this painting (309-1864) depicts 'Hearing,' represented as a peasant chinking coins into his hand. The known engravings in this series by Blooteling depict 'Sight,' 'Smell,' and 'Touch.' 'Taste' is missing from the series, which nevertheless appears to have been particularly popular as it was also engraved in the 17th century by Pieter Schenck (1660-1713) and Jan Verkolje (1650-1693). The absence of the fifth sense in the series leads one to speculate that this work was adopted from another series of prints or an independent work to represent 'Taste.' 310-1864 is similar in scale and subject matter to a painting on panel attributed to Straverenus A man brandishing a beer glass (Sotheby's London Dec. 8 2005) though less finely painted and in a considerably different colour palette.

310-1864