Cat Musicians
manner of David Teniers the younger (Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
254 x 311 mm (10 x 12 1/4 in)
Place of origin
Flanders (Belgium from 1830)
Order this imageCollection
Erddig, Wrexham
NT 1151398
Caption
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Low Countries became known for a rather unusual art trend. Singerie, which can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, depicts monkeys performing human behaviour. The later Flemish painters showed primates gambling and smoking, sculpting and courting, often wearing quite fashionable outfits. Monkeys were not the only animals to be humanised in this way: bird concerts were also popular, and both Jan Brueghel and David Teniers the Younger painted ‘mewling concerts’ of cats. This picture at Erddig is painted in the style of Teniers the Younger. It features both cats and birds, and even a monkey. Cats gather around a musical score while an owl perches on top, perhaps overseeing the occasion. The monkey can be spotted in the left-hand corner, clutching a clarinet; while its identity isn’t completely clear, a nineteenth-century inventory described the then-unnamed painting as ‘Monkies and Cats’. Studying the image, one can’t help but wonder just how the artist imagined the singing session might have sounded.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Cat Musicians, manner of David Teniers the younger (Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690), 18th century. A gathering of cats on a circular table, studying a musical score on which an owl is perched.
Provenance
In an undated early 19th century Erddig inventory as: 'Monkies and Cats/D.tto.' and thence by descent; given by Philip Yorke III (1905 – 1978) along with the estate, house and contents to the National Trust in 1973
Credit line
Erddig, The Yorke Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
manner of David Teniers the younger (Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690), artist
References
Erddig 1800-29 Inventory of contents of Erddig, 1800-1829, "Monkies & Cats / Dtto:"