Ornamental Fowl in and beside a Pond in a Park, with a Peacock in Flight
Melchior d'Hondecoeter (Utrecht 1636 - Amsterdam 1695)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1679 (signed and dated)
Materials
oil on canvas
Measurements
2413 x 2159 mm (95 x 85 in)
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Dyrham, Gloucestershire
NT 453772
Summary
Oil painting on canvas. Ornamental Fowl in and beside a Pond in a Park, with a Peacock in Flight, by Melchior de Hondecoeter (Utrecht 1636 – Amsterdam 1695), signed and dated: M d Hondecoeter / Ao 1679. A view of a formal garden with a classical building to the right, starting to fall into decay, and a fountain to the left. A peacock flies down into the centre of the composition from a tree at the right, while ducks and ducklings swim in the basin of the fountain in the foreground. Other ornamental birds strut on the ground near the basin, with a flamingo peering in from the right hand side.
Provenance
Purchased by Colnaghi for the National Trust from the sale of paintings from Dyrham Park at Sotheby's, 29 February 1956, lot 19. Indigenous collection purchased by Ministry of Works in 1956 and given to Dyrham Park in 1961
Credit line
Dyrham Park, The Blathwayt Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Bottom left: M d Hondecoeter / Ao 1679
Makers and roles
Melchior d'Hondecoeter (Utrecht 1636 - Amsterdam 1695), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Pieter Casteels (Antwerp 1684 - Richmond 1749) , artist
References
Inventory of Chattels at Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire, to be Purchased by the Minister of Works, 1956, p.5, no.237, on the West Staircase Catalogue of Old Master paintings the property of J. R. W. Blathwayt, Esq. [1956]., lot 19