18th Century "print Drawing" By Jurriaan Cootwyck (amsterdam 1714–1798) Boy In A Window

Jurriaan Cootwyck (Amsterdam 1714 – 1798 Amsterdam)

Boy in a Window

Etching and aquatint, 225 x 160 mm

Cornelis Ploos van Amstel’s coat-of-arms stamp on verso

Provenance
Private collection, The Netherlands

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This extraordinarily painterly ‘prenttekening’, ‘print drawing’ or ‘crayon manner’ engraving was executed in the sophisticated technique developed by Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (Weesp 1726 – 1798 Amsterdam), a combination of etching (for the lines) and aquatint (for the ‘washes’ or half tones).1 Although it is very close to Ploos’s works, it is thought to have been made by his pupil Jurriaan Cootwyck (1714-1798), who was a Dutch engraver, active in Amsterdam, working for Cornelis Ploos van Amstel and Christiaan Josi.

The ‘print drawings’ by Ploos van Amstel and his pupils were invariably faithful reproductions of drawings by 17th-century artists. In this particular case, the original model is lost, but must have been made by one of Rembrandt’s pupils, possibly Gerrit Willemsz Horst (Amsterdam c.1612/13–1652).

Condition: very good, given age. No margins, as published. General age-related toning and/or occasional very minor defects from handling.

1. See: T. Laurentius, J.W. Niemeijer and G. Ploos van Amstel, 'Cornelis Ploos van Amstel 1726-1798, Kunstverzamelaar en Prentuitgever', Assen, 1980.