Prince Serge Koudacheff, St. Petersburg;
Arthur Kay, Edinburgh, 1895;
With F. Kleinberger, Paris;
L.J. Mandl, Wiesbaden, by 1910;
Anonymous sale (presumably consigned by Mandl or his widow), Amsterdam, Frederik Muller & Cie, 10 July 1923, lot 130, presumably unsold;
Frau Mandl;
By whom sold, Amsterdam, 13 July 1926, lot 658 (for 6,000 Florins to Van Aalst);
Dr. C.J.K. van Aalst, Hoevelaken (1866-1939);
With Hans Cramer, The Hague, by 1966, from whom acquired by the present owner.

London, British Institution, 1895, no. 70, lent by Arthur Kay;
Wiesbaden, 1910, no. 72.

C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. V, London 1912, p. 102, no. 331 (`Good in expression and of good artistic quality');
W.R. Valentiner and J.W. von Moltke, Dutch and Flemish Old Masters in the Collection of Dr. C. J. K. van Aalst, Verona 1939, p. 294, reproduced plate LXX;
S.J. Gudlaugsson, Katalog der Gemalde Gerard ter Borchs, vol. I, The Hague 1959, reproduced p. 376, no. 249, vol. II, The Hague 1960, pp. 220-221, no. 249, & p. 206, under no. 222;
The Burlington Magazine, vol. CVIII, no. 759 June 1966, supplement, Notable Works of Art now on the market, plate VII, text after page 338.

The painting is lighter in colour and fresher in tone than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The canvas has been relined. The paint surface appears to be in good overall condition however the paint has been pressed as a result of the relining and the canvas weave is visible very slightly in the darker pigments. Under a raking light there appears to be some sensitive cosmetic scattered retouching to the background upper left and upper right. Examination under ultraviolet confirms the presence of the aforementioned retouching and reveals a discoloured varnish overall. It also revelas some further minor flecks of retouching to the tablecloth, and to two spots on his tunic and one in the fleshtone of his hand. These retouchings all appear to be cosmetic and the picture is in good ready to hang condition. Offered in a Dutch style carved wood black and gold painted frame in very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Gudlaugsson identified this portrait as one of two of the same anonymous sitter by Ter Borch.  The other portrait, dated 1668, is in the Kunsthaus, Zürich, and may have had a pendant of another unidentified male sitter, formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Berlin, but destroyed in 1945.¹  The sitter appears to be of approximately the same age in the present picture, which  Gudlaugsson however dates shortly after 1670, citing the form of the hat.²

It has been suggested that the sitter is the philosopher Spinoza, but this does not seem to be correct.

It is not known how the painting travelled from C.J.K van Aalst to Hans Cramer, but the latter handled the sale of a number of paintings from the Van Aalst collection on behalf of his family, and this may have been one of them.


1.  See Gudlaugsson under literature, vol. II, reproduced pp. 356-7, nos. 222-3, vol. II,, p. 206, nos. 222 & 223.
2.  Inexplicably, since the hat looks identical to the one in the 1668 portrait.