(Haarlem 1619–1668)
A hawking party after the hunt,
signed with monogram lower left: Ph(ligated) W,
oil on panel, 50 x 64.8 cm, framed

Provenance:
possibly the Stadtholder of Brussels, circa 1700;
J. P. Snijers, Antwerp;
Willem Lormier (1682–1758), The Hague, 1752;
sale, The Hague, 4 July 1763, lot 324;
bought by Captain Baillie on behalf of Sir James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1736–1802), Lowther Castle, inv. no. 235

Literature:
W. Lormier, Magazine catalogue Willem Lormier, December 1754, The Hague, no. 337;
G. Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlijst van schilderijen met derzelver prijsen…, 3 vols, The Hague, 1752–1770, vol. 2, p. 446;
P. Terwesten, Catalogus of Naamlijst van Schilderijen met derzelver pryzen zedert den 22 August 1752 tot der 21 November 1768 verkogt, The Hague, 1770, no. 335;
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, 1829, no. 53, and 1842, no. 53;
G. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 3 vols, London, 1854, vol. 3, p. 262;
C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVI. Jahrhunderts, vol. 2, Esslingen and Paris, 1908, no. 539;
B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619–1668), The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, Doornspijk, 2006, vol. 1, no. 225a

During the 17th century, Philips Wouwerman was a celebrated Dutch painter of horses. In some of his works, horses are depicted in more humble surroundings; with farriers and travellers at rest or in stables and riding schools. In other works, he portrays horses in larger and more complex compositions, involving hunting parties, army encampments and cavalry battles.

The elegant figures, the sombre tonality with deep red accents, and the rich use of anecdote that we can see in the present composition characterise the style of Wouwerman’s works from the mid-1660s and therefore suggest that this painting was produced during the final years of his life.

Romantic suggestions abound in this painting and tropes from a traditional love garden, such as the fountain, are included. It was typical for Wouwerman’s hunting scenes to include such suggestions and a 17th century viewer would not have had difficulty perceiving that the hunting subject matter should be read as a metaphor and that love is the subtext in the scene. In Dutch ‘hunting the hare’ meant to have sex, while ‘vogelen’, or catching a bird, was equal to making love. With this in mind, the hunters in the painting are clearly looking for love: one of the young men provocatively teases his companion’s lapdog with his hawk, whilst another lies on a lady who places a flower garland in his hair. A second lady reaches over the couple in an attempt to playfully place another garland on the man. Further allusions to erotic love can be seen in the suggestively shaped flask and drinking vessel located on the grass next to the couples. This type of scene, where the young and elegant people in the painting are outdoors, indulging their pleasures by eating, drinks and flirting with each other, stems from the Haarlem genre of the merry company outdoors, and is strongly reminiscent of the Fêtes galantes of the French Rococo.