A Dead Swan and Peacock
Jan Weenix the Younger (Amsterdam 1642 - Amsterdam 1719)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1708 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1700 x 1500 mm (67 x 59 in)
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 436162
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, A Dead Swan and Peacock by Jan Weenix (1642-1719), signed and dated J Weenix 1708. A still life with a dead swan and peacock hung from a branch by their foot and neck respectively. Three small gamebirds, poppies and fruit - peaches, grapes, quince - surround them. The still life is arranged before a sculpted urn, with a terracotta statue behind it. A formal garden laid out around a fountain with a central sculpture, perhaps showing Atlas, can be seen in the background.
Provenance
Collection of Sir Charles Bagot, KB (1781-1843); his sale Christie's, 18 June 1836, lot 44; purchased by Sir Abraham Hume (1749 - 1838); bequeathed by him to John Hume Egerton, Viscount Alford (1812-1851); thence by descent until given with Belton House to the National Trust by Edward, 7th Baron Brownlow in 1984.
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1984)
Marks and inscriptions
Lower left: J Weenix 1708
Makers and roles
Jan Weenix the Younger (Amsterdam 1642 - Amsterdam 1719), publisher
References
Belton House, Lincolnshire, 1984 [The National Trust], 1984 Belton House, Lincolnshire, 1987 [The National Trust; Jonathan Marsden], 1985, revised 1987, The smaller picture of a dead swan over the fireplace, surrounded by gilt wood-carvings possibly by the Victorian restorer, W. G. Rogers, is by Hondecoeter's contemporary, Jan Weenix." Wright 1989 Christopher Wright, Dutch Painting in the Seventeenth Century: Images of a Golden Age in British Collections, London and Birmingham, 1989 Arnold 1991 Bruce Arnold, The Art Atlas of Britain & Ireland, London, 1991 Laing 1991 Alastair Laing, 'Whence this clutch of four?', Country Life, vol.CLXXXVI, 1991, pp.172-3 Belton House [The National Trust; Adrian Tinniswood] 1992, 1996, 1999, 191 Dead Swan and Peacock. JAN WEENIX the younger (1642-1719). Signed and dated 1708. Not part of the original scheme with the Hondecoeters, but complementing them perfectly. The younger Weenix was a cousin of Hondecoeter and specialised in such large and decorative game-pieces.
