Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
Lot 46
Wybrand Hendriks(Amsterdam 1744-1831 Haarlem)Portrait of a boy, three-quarter-length, in a red coat, holding a letter; and Portrait of a young girl, three-quarter-length, (2)
3 December 2014, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£6,000 - £8,000
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Wybrand Hendriks (Amsterdam 1744-1831 Haarlem)
Portrait of a boy, three-quarter-length, in a red coat, holding a letter; and Portrait of a young girl, three-quarter-length, in a gold dress with a blue sash, holding a box with a small letter
the former signed 'W.Hendriks/Pinxt' (lower left) and the latter signed 'W/Hendriks/pinxt' (lower left)
a pair, oil on canvas
43.5 x 36.2cm (17 1/8 x 14 1/4in). (2)
the former signed 'W.Hendriks/Pinxt' (lower left) and the latter signed 'W/Hendriks/pinxt' (lower left)
a pair, oil on canvas
43.5 x 36.2cm (17 1/8 x 14 1/4in). (2)
Footnotes
Provenance
Sale, Helbing, Munich, 1 March 1896, Lot 894 (according to the Witt library)
The identity of the children in the present pair of portraits is revealed by the letters they each hold in their hands. The young girl clutches a folded letter on which it is just possible to read 'mevrouw mevroux/ Aitzma/ gebooren Haksteen/ Batavia' and the one in the boy's hands reads '**** Heer/ Myn Heer/ D J van Aitsm*/ Baljuw in Batavia'.
A David Julius Aitsma is recorded as arriving in Batavia, from Bolsward in Friesland, in 1746 and he then followed various professions, beginning first as an onderkoopman (sub merchant venturer) and then as a schepen (member of the town council). He is also mentioned as a member of the Council of Justice in 1764 and in 1770 he was appointed as first administrator of a sugar warehouse. From 1776 until his death he served as a baljuw (bailiff). Given that the letter held by the young boy is inscribed 'baljuw', it can be assumed that these paintings date to between 1776 and 1784, the year that David Julius died. After his arrival in Batavia he married Susanna Haksteen, the name which appears on the little girl's letter.
The children depicted in these two portraits are presumably those of Susanna Haksteen and David Julius Aitsma. They probably lived in the Netherlands as there is no record of Wybrand Hendriks ever visiting the Dutch East Indies.
