Portrait of a child holding peaches - Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (1594-1652)

Oil on panel

Portrait of a child holding peaches, accompanied by a dog.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for confirming the attribution on the basis of high-resolution photographs.

The present portrayal of a silk-robed child, attended by a pedigree puppy and holding a sprig of expensive, exotic fruit, exudes the burgeoning wealth of the mid-17th century Dutch Republic, and is characteristic of the accomplished hand of Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp. The sex of the present child is difficult to determine with certainty, as young boys also were attired in dresses at this time, but the silk bonnet covering the back half of the child’s lustrous blonde locks would indicate this to be the daughter of either the nobility or very well-to-do gentry.

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, father of the renowned Albert Cuyp, and half-brother of history painter Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp was mainly active in Dordrecht but undertook his training in the Utrecht workshop of Abraham Bloemaert. Cuyp returned to Dordrecht following his pupilage, and was made a master of the Guild of Saint Luke there in 1617, before later being appointed treasurer. He trained many illustrious pupils, notably Aert van der Neer and Ferdinand Bol.