A Young Cookmaid watering Poultry, with a Cat and Guinea Pigs
Giovanni Agostino Cassana (1658 - 1720)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1685 - 1720
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
930 x 1280 mm
Order this imageCollection
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
NT 290411
Caption
The artist thought to have painted this work was a well-known painter of still lifes, with a preference for animal subjects. It is no surprise then that the goose, chickens, guinea pigs and cat appear more accomplished than the figure of the young girl pouring water. The dark background and illumination of the scene from the left almost certainly indicate the influence of the work of Caravaggio.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, A Young Cookmaid watering Poultry with a Cat and Guinea Pigs by Giovanni Agostino Cassana (Venice 1658 – Genoa 1720) or Tommaso Salini (Rome c.1575 - Rome 1625). A young cookmaid pouring water from a ewer into a shallow bowl for poultry. Guinea pigs are in the foreground and behind then three hens and a goose. The girl is kneeling, her torso twisted and her head turned to one side. She wears a decollete bodice and yellow skirt, a scarf twisted around her head. The figure painting seems less accomplished than the painting of poultry and still life.
Provenance
Acquired with Calke Abbey's contents, with the aid of a grant provided by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, thanks to a special allocation of money from the Government and transferred in lieu of tax on the estate of Charles Jenney Harpur-Crewe (1917 - 1981) to the National Trust with the house that was given by Henry Jenney Harpur-Crewe (1921- 1991), in 1984
Credit line
Calke Abbey, The Harpur Crewe Collection (acquired by the National Trust with the help of the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 1984)
Makers and roles
Giovanni Agostino Cassana (1658 - 1720), artist Tommaso Salini (Rome c.1575 – Rome 1625), artist