Lot 1037 Dα

The present interior scene is a characteristic work by the Dutch genre painter Hendrick Maertensz Sorgh. Fred Meijer dates it to around 1645-1650, a time when Sorgh specialised in peasant interiors under the influence of Adriaen Brouwer's pictorial inventions and the paintings of his compatriots Cornelis and Herman Saftleven, who were still living in Rotterdam. A "Merry Peasant Company" comparable in composition and richness of detail, which can be interpreted as a depiction of the Five Senses, was sold at Lempertz on 21st May 2022 (lot 2072, hammer price € 150,000).
The attribution has been confirmed by Guido Jansen and Fred Meijer (written correspondence 25th October 2023).