An eglomisé painting of Montelbaanstoren on the Oude Schans
Etched gold and silver foil and polychrome oil painting behind glass in an ebonised and gilt softwood frame. Depicting the Oude Schans / Montelbaansgracht with washer women on a raft in the front left, a ship laden with corn in the centre, and the harbour behind a drawbridge. Signed lower right "Zeuner fec." Some unobtrusive localised retouches. H frame 40.3, W 48.7 cm.
Amsterdam, Jonas Zeuner, 1780s.
The view depicted here is based on an illustration from the "Nieuwe atlas, van de voornaamste gebouwen en gezigten der stad Amsterdam, met derzelver beknopte beschryvingen" published by Pierre Fouquet Jr. in 1760. The sheet dated 1782 "Gezicht van de Mont-Albans-Tooren te Amsterdam" was made by Simon Fokke (1712 - 1784).
Jonas Zeuner was born in Kassel in 1727. He arrived in Amsterdam in around 1750, hoping to make a living as an artist. He was specialised in a particularly elegant style of reverse glass painting known as eglomisé using etched gold and silver foil. His depictions of buildings and river landscapes with figures form a graceful and effective contrast against the soft, atmospheric oil painting of the sky. The majority of his works are signed and dated between 1770 and 1814.
Provenance
Auctioned by Koller Zurich on 21st March 2013, lot 1093.
Private collection, Copenhagen.
Literature
Cf. Ryser, Verzauberte Bilder Die Kunst der Malerei hinter Glas, Munich 1991, p. 270 f.
An eglomisé panel signed “Zeuner inv.” with a portrait of Ericus Fridericus Alberti is housed in the Corning Museum of Glass (acc.no. 66.3.5). The same panel can also be found in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (inv. no. SK-C-1569) as well as five depictions of Dutch landscapes signed by Zeuner.