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Stock# 102932
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Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
Title
The Windmill
Publication Place / Date
n.p. (Amsterdam) / 1641
Image Dimensions
8 x 5.5 inches
Color
Uncolored
Condition
VG+
Stock# 102932
$ 65,000.00
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Description

This handsome example of Rembrandt's etching, "The Windmill," dating from 1641, presents a classic image of a real windmill that was located on the De Passeerde bulwark along the western city wall of Amsterdam. This mill, integral to the city's boundary with the countryside, was associated with the Leathermakers Guild. The windmill's nickname, the Little Stink Mill, originated from its use in the leather softening process, where tanned leather was treated with cod liver oil, a practice that likely produced a strong odor.

The etching has a striking true-to-life quality, suggesting that Rembrandt started the work on-site to capture the mill and its immediate surroundings accurately before completing it in his studio. This level of detail indicates direct observation and an intent to document the landscape and industrial activities of his time accurately.

State

New Hollstein's first and only state.

Provenance

Collection of the Dukes of Arenberg, with their blue ink stamp on verso ("CH. PROTECTOR MEUS"), Lugt L.567.
Almost certainly their sale, Christie's London, July 14-17, 1902, Catalogue of the Collection of Engravings and Etchings by and After the Old Masters of His Serene Highness the Duc D'Arenberg, Removed from the Palais D'Arenberg, Brussels, of which Lugt remarks:

Vente très remarquable offrant une quantité énorme d'estampes ; les 40.000 feuilles étaient décrites sous 669 nos et les vastes lots ainsi formés contenaient un grand nombre de pièces intéressantes.

Condition Description
Etching with drypoint and sulfur tinting on delicate 17th-century laid paper watermarked with a serpent winding its way up the cross above a church(?), like a caduceus. This is Hinterding's Serpent watermark, see Watermark Illustrations pages 354-55 and Text page 175. "Probably a [Niklaus] Heusler [of Basel] watermark." Hinterding dates the watermark to the 1630s and '40s. Trimmed to the platemark or just outside it.
Reference
Bartsch, Hollstein 233; Hind 179; New Hollstein 200.
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