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artist or maker

Maas, Dirk (b.1659, d.1717)

previously attributed to Jan van Huchtenburgh (Dutch, b.1647, d.1733)

Date

1690-1710

dated stylistically

Place of production

Haarlem, Holland, Netherlands

Medium

oil on canvas

Type of object

paintings

Accession number

554

A horizontal rectangular oil painting of a landscape with a hawking party in the foreground. On the far right, a man sits with a hooded hawk perched on his arm. He has a bag with a bird in it, and holds a dead bird in his right hand. A dog stands at his feet, looking at the flying birds. On the right, a man wearing a grey jacket with gold embroidery, on horseback gallops from right to left, with a dog running alongside. The dog barks at two flying birds, a hawk and a heron at upper centre. On the left a woman and man on horseback look and point at the birds. The woman wears ostrich feathers in her hair; a blue and gold silk gown; a pearl necklace; and long grey gloves. She carries a black and white lap dog. she has an ornate saddle cloth with gld embroidery. The man wears a gold-trimmed tricorn hat. A groom in livery holds a white horse in front of them with a blue saddle with a heart motif on the leather.

Behind, to the left, a man rides a horse and swings a lure for a hawk. There are poplar trees and a three-storey palace to the left; an urn and fountain in the centre with three figures on horseback, a man with a dog, and another dog; and a sculpture of the Farnese Hercules, a wood and a fountain with a muscled river god to the right. In the distance the landscape descends into a view of woods, cottages, a river, fields and hills.

Commentary

Dirk Maes produced several paintings showing elegant men and women riding or hunting in parkland. This work was once attributed to Jan van Huchtenburg, Maes's friend, who influenced his style, but it is signed by Maes and shows similarities with other paintings by him. His ladies sometimes wear extravagant plumed hats and he often included fountains with classical statues, as in this work.

Maes was from Haarlem and studied under Nicolaes Berchem, specialising in equestrian scenes. He moved to the Hague sometime in the 1680s and began working for William III, Prince of Orange Nassau. He went with him to England and drew military scenes of his campaigns, using his skills at depicting vast receding landscapes which he also employed in this later work. He decorated William's hunting lodge and painted several pictures of him hunting.

This painting draws on similar imagery but probably shows an imaginary landscape and event. The palace, seen behind the trees to the left, appears to be a fantasy. Maes has also arranged the figures to form a triangle, focussed on the hunting bird of prey. The chaos of the chase has been ordered to suit the calm elegance of the party.

Phillippa Plock, 2011

Physical description

Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)

508 x 680
480 x 635 - sight

Signature & date

signed, lower left: D. Maas C.

Marks

[seal with count's coronet above a shield supported by two unicorns]
Owner's mark
on verso

History

Provenance

Acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898); inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); given to Waddesdon (National Trust) by the Treasury Solicitor in lieu of taxes on the Estate of Mr James de Rothschild in 1963.

Collection

Waddesdon (National Trust)
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Trust for display at Waddesdon Manor, 1963

Bibliography

Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; p. 154, cat. no. 64, ill.

Related files

- http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/10195/lot/155/ [accessed 12 May 2011, similar painting attributed to Dirck Maas, "An elegant hunting party in a park landscape", oil on canvas, 54.5 x 63.5 cm, Bonhams, London, 9 July 2003, Lot No: 155]
- http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/10195/lot/155/ [accessed 12 May 2011, similar painting attributed to Dirck Maas, "An elegant hunting party in a park landscape", oil on canvas, 54.5 x 63.5 cm, Bonhams, London, 9 July 2003, Lot No: 155]

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