The Rat-Catcher
Printmaker:
Smith, John
Publisher:
Smith, John
Printmaker:
Visscher, Cornelis de
(After)
Head and shoulders of an old, bearded man wearing a tattered and patched coat and a fur hat. Head turned slightly towards the left. A small rat sits on his cloak at the far right, looking out at the viewer. After Cornelis Visscher's large plate, The Rat-Catcher (1655; Hollstein, 50) in which the figure is three-quarter length and standing with his boy and dog in a courtyard.
History note: VanSittart gave 1,485 engravings to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1879 and this mezzotint was probably included within this group. The number written in pen and ink on the verso presumably relates to Vansittart's own cataloguing system and the number written in graphite to some kind of count by curators at the time of the acquisition.
Given by Augustus Arthur VanSittart, ?1879
Method of acquisition: Given (1879) by VanSittart, Augustus Arthur
18th Century#
Circa
1683
-
Circa
1729
Mezzotint. Small plate (140mm x 112mm). Scratched onto the plate in the narrow margin at lower right: 'I S Ex'. Good-sized margins. Hollstein records that Abraham Blooteling made a copy in reverse of the head and shoulders only (Hollstein 50, copy d; Cf. BM: 1843,0513.557). However, this plate is likely to have been Smith's own copy in reverse after Visscher which is mentioned in Hollstein: 'Furthermore eighteenth and nineteenth-century copies by: H.W. Couwenberg, Richard Houston, F. Mecheux, the count of Meluen, J. Smith, D. Sluyter, George Vertue and D. Vrydag.' Cf. NPG D11807. Inscribed in pen and ink on the verso: '2647' and in graphite: 'Vansittart Collection'; '523(3)'; '112'.
Accession number: P.15079-R
Primary reference Number: 240109
Wessely (Smith): undescribed
Chaloner Smith: undescribed
Hollstein (Dutch/Flemish): 50 (Cornelis Visscher)
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "The Rat-Catcher" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/240109 Accessed: 2024-11-21 18:57:05
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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/240109
|title=The Rat-Catcher
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 18:57:05|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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