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David Teniers
Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690
Peasant with a top hat in profile.
Oil on Panel, 12.5 x 10.6 cm
Signed with the Monogram: DT. f
Provenance
M. Schulthess, Basel 1967;
Private collection, Basel;
Dorotheum, Vienna 2003.
Additionnal Information
Engraved: Pieter de Mare, 1768-1796.
Following inspection by Mrs Klinge who doubted the work, it has now been established that this painting comes from the same wood panel as Teniers’ Monkeys having a meal in a kitchen in Aschaffenburg (Klein 2020).
In this context are two vivid drawings of similar importance, made in black chalk on parchment. Teniers signed them evenly with the monogram ‘DT.f’ suggesting that these were intended as autonomous works, not as preparatory sketches (Klinge 1991, p. 315). The smiling man holds a smoking pipe and reserves a second pipe in his hat. He seems to interact with his opponent, who toasts him with a tall glass of beer (cf. RKD, nos. 290145, 290146, 18366). With his characteristic pointy nose, he is undoubtedly the same model as the man in the painting. These smoking and drinking types became perfect models for Teniers’ tiny interior scenes, especially for dimly lit taverns. Sometimes they silently and introspectively smoke their tobacco, at other times they participate in a lively conversation around a table.
