Trompe l’oeil of a Framed Necessary-board
Samuel van Hoogstraten (Dordrecht 1627 – Dordrecht 1678)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1662 - 1663
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
540 x 591 mm (21 1/4 x 23 1/4 in)
Order this imageCollection
Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset (Accredited Museum)
On show at
Not on show
NT 1257236
Caption
This illusionistic painting is intended to deceive the viewer into thinking it is a real necessary-board stuffed with objects held by leather straps. The type of painting is called 'trompe l'oeil', designed to 'fool the eye'. There is a pair of scissors, a little ivory magnifying glass, a frontispiece of an English play-text (Abraham Cowley's 'The Guardian', a Comedy performed for Prince Charles, later Charles II, in 1641 and revived as 'Cutter of Coleman-Street' in 1663), a large horn comb and a small ivory double comb, a knife, a shaving knife, some playing-cards, a pen-holder; a quill pen, a gilt-tooled leather-bound book, a cameo of a Roman Emperor (which refers to the artist's honour of Painter of the Holy Roman Emperor, bestowed on him by Emperor Ferdinand III in 1651), an envelope addressed to van Hoogstraten himself, a string of pearls, an envelope with a paper seal, and a bunch of keys. The artist, who came from Holland, was in England between 1662–1666 when the picture was painted.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Trompe l’oeil of a Framed Necessary-board, by Samuel van Hoogstraten (Dordrecht 1627 – Dordrecht 1678), 1662/3; signed (as the address of a letter): Sr [?] Sam[ue]le Hoogstraten / pittor d s sacra / mta Cesare. Inscribed: (as the title of a play): The Guardian / A / COME[DY] / A[cted before] Prince C[harles]. With a similar Dutch giltwood frame with elements of auricular ornament, flowers and fruit, a shell, and a lionmask, the painter has used the actual grain of the panel to represent a backboard, against which three simulated leather straps appear to hold a whole variety of things, including (from upper left to lower right): a pair of scissors; a little ivory magnifying-glass; an open English play-text, a large horn comb and a small ivory double comb; a knife; a shaving knife; some playing-cards; a pen-holder; a quill pen; a gilt-tooled leather-bound book; a cameo of a Roman Emperor, hung from a ribbon; an envelope addressed to van Hoogstraten himself; a string of pearls; an envelope with a paper seal, and a bunch of keys.
Provenance
First recorded 1731, no.92; 1775, no. 112; bequeathed by (Henry John) Ralph Bankes (1902 – 1981) to the National Trust, together with the estates of Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy and its entire contents in 1981.
Credit line
Kingston Lacy, The Bankes Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Samuel van Hoogstraten (Dordrecht 1627 – Dordrecht 1678), artist
References
Roscam Abbing 1993: M. Roscam Abbing, De schilder & schrijver Samuel van Hoogstraten 1627-1678: Eigentijdse bronnen & oeuvre van gesigneerde schilderijen, Leyden, 1993 Brusati 1995 C. Brusati, Artifice & Illusion. The art and Writing of Samuel van Hoogstraten, Chicago 1995, Checklist, nr. 85 (on page 363) Brusati 1999 C. Brusati, ‘Capitalizing on the Counterfeit: Trompe L'Oeil Negotiations’, in A. Chong and W. Kloek eds., Still-life paintings from the Netherlands 1550-1720, 1999, 58-71, p.71, n.21 Blanc 2008 J. Blanc, Peindre et penser la peinture au XVIIe siècle. La théorie de l’art de Samuel van Hoogstraten, Bern 2008, p.181