Unknown Boy, aged 10
Willem van der Vliet (Delft 1584 – Delft 1642)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1634 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on panel and gilt
Measurements
1092 x 813 mm (43 x 32 in)
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246489
Caption
The identity of this finely-dressed little boy is not known although the artist was born and worked in seventeenth-century Delft, providing a clue to his origin. The canvas is inscribed ‘Aeta 10’ indicating the boy’s age.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Unknown Boy, aged 10 by Willem van der Vliet (Delft 1584 – Delft 1642), signed, inscribed and dated: "der Vliet fecit Aeta 10 An 1634". A three-quarter length portrait of a young boy, standing, turned to the left, gazing at the spectator, his hands by his sides, a large black hat in his left hand; he wears a grey doublet and breeches with slashed sleeves, collar and cuffs.
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Christie's, 5 March 1920, lot 36, bought by Amor; with Agnew, 1920, from whom it was bought by Mrs Greville for £750, 29.7.1920; Date of acquisition not recorded, but originally at 16 Charles Street, Mayfair, Mrs Greville's London home, and bequeathed by Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942) with Polesden Lacey, to the National Trust, in memory of her father, William McEwan (1827-1913) in 1942. This item found on the probate inventory record for Charles Street chattels at Polesden Lacey, found in the Dining Room, page 67.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
van der Vliet fecit Aeta 10 An 1634 (signed, inscribed and dated)
Makers and roles
Willem van der Vliet (Delft 1584 – Delft 1642), artist