(Leeuwarden circa 1748–1822 Groningen)
An allegory of music with a violin, a hurdy-gurdy, a framedrum, sheets of music, flowers and fruit on a stone plinth,
oil on canvas, 74 x 89.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Alastair Laing for suggesting the attribution to Gerke Jans de Jager.

This late dix-huitième still life is something of an enigma. Of undoubtedly high quality, it was painted, according to Fred Meijer, to whom we are grateful, by the same hand as a pair of overdoors that have traditionally been attributed to Louis Tessier (circa 1719–1781) (identified as an Allegory of the Arts and an Allegory of Design and Architecture, each oil on canvas, 68.5 x 87.5 cm, offered at Sotheby’s, New York, 26 January 2011, lot 14, as by Louis Tessier and previously sold at Christie’s, New York, 31 May 1990, lot 144, as attributed to Louis Tessier). Fred Meijer has mentioned some reservations, though, whether that pair was rightfully attributed to Tessier, a reservation that would also apply to the present painting.

It would appear plausible to assume that the present painting was once part of the same decorative scheme as the pair of allegories, as they share a similar low point of view, the same swag of drapery at the top, similar stone plinths as well as almost identical sizes. A possible fourth overdoor would have completed the scheme, which was likely intended for a musical Salon. At the time of the 1990 sale, Michel Faré had proposed an attribution to the French painter the Marquise de Grollier, née de Fuligny-Damas, for the pair of allegories.

Alastair Laing, to whom we are grateful for his help in cataloguing the present painting, agrees that Tessier would appear to be a likely candidate, but offers a possible alternative identification. He compares the present painting with one still life by the Dutch artist Gerke Jans de Jager (Leeuwarden 1748–1822 Groningen), of whom a very similar still life was sold at Sotheby’s in 2006 (Still life with a banner, flowers in a terracotta urn, bas-relief, a globe, an opened letter and Blaeus’s Atlas all resting on a partly draped stone ledge, 249.8 x 192.4 cm, Sotheby’s, London, 6 July 2006, lot 257). The handling of the flowers in that painting is remarkably similar to the present painting and its likely companion pair, as is the random placement of the leaves. A certain dry, almost pastel like quality can also be observed in all four works. Another characteristic appears to be the pairing of roses and morning glories, and the inclusion of auricula primroses. It is interesting to note that the companion pair of allegories traditionally given to Tessier also bear Dutch associations: All the inscriptions in that pair are in Dutch and a book depicted has been identified as a popular volume of poetry entitled Trou-ringh (Wedding Ring) by the celebrated Dutch author Jacob Cats. Furthermore, the architectural floorplan’s measurements in that pair are in voeten, and the floorplan in the allegory of architecture is characteristic of the long, narrow grachtenhuis (literally ‘canalside house’) found alongside the canals in Amsterdam. It has been suggested that the floorplan might even represent the home in which these paintings were to hang. This would point to a Dutch origin of the pair, and thus of the present painting, all three of which would appear to be by Gerke Jans de Jager.