MYSTERY surrounds the identity of the sitter of a 400-year-old oil painting which has recently sold for £71,000 at a Cotswold auction.
The painting depicts an unknown young lady in an embroidered dress and white ruff. Specially commissioned by a family of wealth and stature, despite being unsigned, specialists at Kinghams Auctioneers attributed the work to revered 17th century Dutch painter Paulus Moreelse.
Born and living most of his life in Utrecht, a pupil of Michiel Jansz van Miereveldt, Moreelse became a talented portrait painter. He received commissions across the Dutch Republic, with his earliest known work dating to 1606.
Discovered among the contents of a deceased estate in Oxfordshire, along with other early paintings, the portrait was consigned to Kinghams with an estimate of £3,500 to £4,500.
In the run-up to the auction, there was much pre-sale interest from UK and European connoisseurs of early portraiture. Three telephones and numerous online bidders fought to secure it. After an intense bidding frenzy, an anonymous Dutch bidder on the phone secured it for a total of £71,000.
Kinghams Auctioneers of Moreton in Marsh are now inviting fine paintings, from antique to contemporary, for inclusion in their next Fine Art auction on July 22. Entries close four weeks in advance of the auction date.
Contact Adrian Rathbone at [email protected] or 01608 695695 for further details.
