Beschreibung:

BRUEGEL the Younger, Pieter, attributed - [ A pedlar sells worthless rubbish but the customer is no fool ]. - [ An archer wasting his arrows ], s.d. Pendant drawings, sepia ink and pen, tondo, diam. 16 cm, strong laid paper, one with fragment of watermark visible to the edge (imperial eagle's claws); both signed "Bruegel", to the lower centre and to the right side. Framed under passe-partout (unframed). Old traces on verso. Pale stain to left part of 2nd drawing.
2 nice drawings from a Ghent collection attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Younger (1564-1636), inspired by 2 engravings from "The set of Flemish proverbs" executed by Johannes Wierix and another artist (Pieter Van Der Heyden ?) c. 1568 after Bruegel the Elder or some other source (the name of Bruegel the Elder is not on the engravings but they are considered "Bruegelian" and accepted as such by Bruegelian scholars). The 1st drawing is reproduced by Ertz (p. 97, ill. 46) and by Marlier/Folie (p. 148, ill. 64). It represents a fat farmer, wearing two different caps, sitting on a bench whilst a travelling salesman presents his goods, consisting of flutes, jew's harp and nest, all symbols of cheating and dishonesty then clearly identifiable. This scene does not appear in the original painting of Pieter Bruegel the Elder ("The Dutch Proverbs", 1559, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) but it is present on copies made by his son. Several circular paintings of this scene, of similar size, are known (Antwerp, KSMKA, - Munich, Galerie Scheidwimmer, and also in auctions, the most recent sold by Sotheby's London, 7/12/2016, n. 35, "The fat peasant and the peddler : Flemish proverb", - another one sold by Dorotheum Vienna, 16/10/2016, n. 10, "The fat peasant and the peddler sitting on a bench, a Flemish proverb", with certificate by K. Ertz and documentary reproduction of our drawing). According to Ertz, this drawing could have been preliminary to the painted versions : "Wenn diese Zeichnung von Pieter Brueghel der Jüngerer ist, was wir durchaus für möglich halten, könnte der Stich danach entstanden sein". The 2nd drawing is reproduced in Ertz only (p. 113, ill. 61) but Marlier/Folie mentions its existence in a footnote ("Un dessin de cette composition [the pedlar] est conservé dans une collection privée gantoise, ainsi qu'un autre de la même série, "L'Archer prodigue de ses flèches (...)", p. 148). A crossbowman is present in the Berlin painting but featured in a very different pose : on a roof, seen half-length, with his bow pointing upwards. Here on the contrary, the man, elegantly dressed, is standing with his arbalest pointing downwards through a window; at his feet, a bolt and a mechanical device to stretch his arbalest; in the background some sketched buildings and a crossbow field. According to Ertz, this drawing is without any doubt by the same hand as "The pedlar" and both could have been used as preliminary sketches. Although no painted version of this drawing is known, he assumes that a painting could exist in a private collection. Pieter Bruegel the Younger executed several paintings, most circular and small size, on the theme of the Flemish proverbs, both after the Berlin painting and after the engraved set. His drawings are very rare. Provenance : Paul Eeckhout with his stamp on reverse (Lugt 824a), "achetés à Louise Staes". Ref. Klaus Ertz, "Pieter Brueghel der Jüngerer", Linden, Luca Verlag, 1988-2000. Georges Marlier, "Pierre Bruegel le jeune. Edition posthume mise au point et annotée par Jacqueline Folie", Bruxelles, Finck, 1969. Cp. New Hollstein, Pieter Bruegel the Younger, A11 & A13. Mauquoy-Hendrickx, 1687 (= Van Bastelaer 175, Lebeer 69) & 1689 (= Van Bastelaer 179, Lebeer 71).