Guardroom Interior with Soldiers
Smoking and Playing Cards

ca. 1640
oil on panel
34.9 x 49.5 cm
GB-101

Gerard ter Borch the Younger(Zwolle 1617 – 1681 Deventer)

How to cite
Wieseman, Marjorie E. “Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards” (2017). In The Leiden
Collection

Catalogue,

2nd

ed.

EditedbyArthurK.

Wheelock

Jr.

New

York,

2017–20.

https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/a-guardroom-interior-with-soldiers-smoking-and-playing-cards/(archived May 2020).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative
occurs.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
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In style and subject matter, Gerard ter Borch the Younger’s early genre

Comparative Figures

paintings differ markedly from the rarified domestic interiors of his mature
career. In the late 1630s and early 1640s, after his return to the Netherlands
from travels first in England and then in southern Europe, he painted anumber of scenes featuring soldiers relaxing or playing cards in the humble
surroundings of a barn or rustic tavern. Although women are occasionallypresent, these dim, untidy spaces are decidedly masculine, strewn with theutilitarian paraphernalia that signifies the nomadic existence of a professionalsoldier (fig 1).
Formulated and initially popularized by the Amsterdam painters Pieter Codde(1599–1678) and Willem Duyster (1598/99–1635), Dutch guardroom scenes

Fig 1. Gerard ter Borch,
Guardroom with Soldiers Playing
Cards, ca. 1644, oil on panel, 29.4
x 37.5 cm, Stedelijk Museum,
Zwolle, inv. NK2741 (on loan fromthe Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel
Erfgoed)(depictions of soldiers at their leisure) came into vogue in the 1620s andremained popular throughout the century.[1] The appetite for the subject was
linked to the Dutch Republic’s ongoing war for independence from Spain;
indeed, the years between the resumption of hostilities at the end of the
Twelve Year Truce (1621) and the Peace of Münster (1648) coincided withthe theme’s heyday. Unlike many of the artists who explored the theme, Ter
Borch was intimately familiar with the everyday lives of soldiers, as his native
city of Zwolle was a garrison town that played a strategic role in defending
the eastern part of the Dutch Republic against invasion during the war with
Spain.
Personal experience aside, Ter Borch may have been inspired in his choiceFig 2. Adriaen Brouwer, Peasantsand Soldiers Playing Cards, ca.
1631–32, oil on panel, 33 x 43 cm,
Alte Pinakothek, Munich, inv. 218,
bpk, Berlin / Alte Pinakothek / Art
Resource, NYof subject matter by the guardroom scenes of Duyster and Codde, which hecould have seen during visits to Amsterdam in the early 1630s. Ter Borch’s
soldiers also resemble the travelers who populate the landscapes of the
Haarlem painter Pieter Molijn (1595–1661), with whom he studied in 1634.
Finally, his guardroom scenes recall the work of the Flemish painters Adriaen
Brouwer (1605/6–38) and David Teniers the Younger (1610–90), who, during
the 1630s in Antwerp, painted comparable scenes of soldiers and card
players in rustic interiors (fig 2). Although there is no documentary proof thatTer Borch visited Antwerp, he could easily have stopped there on his returnfrom England in late 1635 or early 1636 and been inspired by the vivid
spontaneity and uncompromising subject matter of the Flemish masters’
work.[2]Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards depicts three

Fig 3. Gerard ter Borch, An
Encampment of Soldiers Playing
Cards, ca. 1640–45, oil on panel,
41.6 x 51 cm, Staatliche Museen
zu Berlin–Preußischer
Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie,
Berlin, inv. 2081, bpk Bildagentur /Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche
Museen, Berlin, Germany / Jörg P.
Anders / Art Resource, NY

soldiers seated around a large drum that has been pressed into service as amakeshift table. The man at the back smokes a long clay pipe, while his© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
Page 3 of 9companions play a game of cards. The soldier at the right is dressed in drab
and rumpled garments; one stocking has pooled around his ankle to reveal abare and bony leg. He holds a playing card in each of his outstretched arms,
thrusting them toward the better-dressed cavalryman with palpable urgency.
A fourth soldier stands in the doorway at left and turns to look back at thecard players. In the left foreground is a heap of objects associated with asoldier’s life: a hide-covered trunk, a coat and hat, a cuirass and almain
collar, a bandolier with containers for gunpowder and fuses, and various
bundles and bags. The purpose of the curious tapering cylinder protrudingfrom the lid of the trunk is unclear; it may have accommodated the crown of a
hat packed inside. On the rear wall of the room is a rack with matchlock
muskets, a pike, and furkets for supporting the muskets while shooting.[3]Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards was probably
painted around 1640 or slightly later, after Ter Borch had returned to theNetherlands from his visit to Spain. Where exactly he might have been living
when he painted this work is not certain, but the concentrated flurry ofguardroom scenes that Ter Borch painted during the early 1640s suggeststhat he might have settled in Amsterdam, where the tradition of such scenes
by Duyster and Codde would have been most strongly felt.[4] Works closely
related to Guardroom Interior, such as the Guardroom with Soldiers Playing
Cards (fig 1) and An Encampment of Soldiers Playing Cards (fig 3), dated
about 1644 and 1640–45 respectively, show that even at this early stage of
his career Ter Borch was experimenting with ways of modifying theinterpretation of a given theme.[5] All three paintings show a trio of players
observed by a figure standing to the side; all are executed in a restrictedpalette dominated by browns and grays and accentuated with just a few
touches of red and brilliant white. The occasionally summary treatment of
figures and background elements in these paintings is contrasted by thebeautifully detailed still lifes of military accoutrements in the foreground.
Playing cards was a popular pastime in the seventeenth century, despite (orperhaps because of) its being considered disreputable; equated withcheating, gambling, drinking and sex, it aroused censure from civic andreligious authorities, even as it offered fertile ground for artists. Countless
Dutch guardroom scenes depict soldiers playing cards or other games ofchance. Not only did this realistically portray how soldiers relaxed while
awaiting the next call to arms, but it also alluded to the risky, unpredictable
nature of a soldier’s life on and off the battlefield.[6] Smoking tobacco wasanother dubious pastime and a subject of great public debate. From the timeof tobacco’s introduction into Europe at the end of the fifteenth century, its© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
Page 4 of 9

physical and psychological advantages and disadvantages were vociferously
disputed.[7] In a military context, however, smoking could be considered
restorative, and its use justified among soldiers and sailors who laboredunder stressful conditions.[8]Ter Borch continued to incorporate soldiers into his elegant domestic genre
paintings of the 1650s and 1660s, but by and large the polished officers andflamboyant trumpeters seen in these later paintings are little more than apicturesque military presence, their actions more suited to the drawing room
than to a rough military encampment.[9]Several copies of Guardroom Interior are known; some situate identicalfigures in a landscape setting (fig 3), a variation that Gudlaugsson felt
reflected more the Flemish tradition of depicting military themes.[10] From
photographic evidence, none of these copies is of sufficient quality toindicate that Ter Borch had a role in its making.

- Marjorie E. Wieseman, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
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Endnotes

1. On the Dutch guardroom scene, see Carol Bigler Playter, Willem Duyster and Pieter Codde:
The “Duyster Weereldt” of Dutch Genre Painting, c. 1625–1635 (Cambridge, 1972); Ellen
Borger, De Hollandse kortegaard: Geschilderde wachtlocalen uit de Gouden Eeuw (Exh. cat.
Vestingmuseum, Naarden, 1996) (Zwolle 1996); Nanette Salomon, Jacob Duck and the
Gentrification of Dutch Genre Painting (Doornspijk, 1998), 33–68; David Kunzle, From
Criminal to Courtier: The Soldier in Netherlandish Art, 1550–1672 (Leiden, 2002), passim;
and Jochai Rosen, Soldiers at Leisure: The Guardroom Scene in Dutch Genre Painting of theGolden Age (Amsterdam, 2008).
2. Ter Borch’s Consultation, dated 1635 (oil on panel, 34.5 x 45.7 cm, Staatliche Museen zu
Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, inv. 791C), is based on acontemporary painting by David Teniers the Younger (oil on panel, 28 x 37 cm, Musées
Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, inv. 1459). See Sturla J. Gudlaugsson,
Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 1: 30–31; 2: 55–56, no. 4. It is also possiblethat Ter Borch became aware of Brouwer’s work while still in the Netherlands, as the Flemish
painter stayed briefly in Amsterdam and Haarlem in about 1626–27 and works by him might
have been in circulation.
3. I am grateful to Jos Hilkhuijsen, curator at Het Legermuseum, Delft, for help in identifying themilitaria depicted in this painting.
4. See Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., “The Artistic Development of Gerard ter Borch,” in Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr., ed., Gerard ter Borch (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art;
Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) (Zwolle, 2004), 9.
5. Other guardroom scenes by Ter Borch include: Interior of an Inn, 1636(?), oil on panel, 30.6 x
36.8 cm (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, inv. 818.1.10); Cavaliers, 1638(?), oil on panel, 33.4
x 42.5 cm (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, inv. CAI.84); Tric-trac Players, ca. 1640, oil
on panel, 42 x 56 cm (Kunsthalle, Bremen, inv. 135-1856); Guardroom with Soldiers Playing
Cards, ca. 1644, oil on panel, 29.4 x 37.5 cm (Stedelijk Museum, Zwolle, inv. NK2741 [onloan from the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed]); Soldiers Playing Cards, ca. 1640–45,
oil on panel, 41.6 x 51 cm (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin–Preußischer Kulturbesitz,
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, inv. 2081); and Soldiers Playing Cards before a Ruin, ca. 1643, oil on
panel, 42 x 61.5 cm (collection Dr. H. Schaeffer, Berlin, 1929). See Sturla J. Gudlaugsson,
Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2: 56–57, 59–60, and 64–66, nos. 6, 11, 12,
21, 24, and 25, respectively.
6. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 1:45.
7. See Ivan Gaskell, “Tobacco, Social Deviance, and Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century,”© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
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in Holländische Genremalerei im 17. Jahrhundert: Symposium Berlin 1984. Edited byHenning Bock and Thomas W. Gaehtgens, special issue no. 4, Jahrbuch Preussischer
Kulturbesitz (1987): 117–37.
8. As noted by Nanette Salomon, Jacob Duck and the Gentrification of Dutch Genre Painting(Doornspijk, 1998), 42.
9. On the interpretation of Ter Borch’s later paintings with military subjects specifically, see
Alison McNeil Kettering, “Gerard ter Borch’s Military Men: Masculinity Transformed,” in The
Public and Private in Dutch Culture of the Golden Age, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Adele
Seeff (Newark, Del., 2000), 100–22.
10. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 1:44.

ProvenancePossibly Émile Péreire (1800–75), Paris.[1]Barron James Grahame, F. S. A., of Morphie (1792–1877), Kincardinshire (his sale,
Sotheby’s, London, 8 February 1878, no. 91 [“Dutch School, The Guard Room, four men
playing at cards, armour in the foreground”]; for £3, to Grego).
Joseph Grego (1843–1908) [2], London (his sale, Puttick and Simson, London, 11 June 1908,
no. 96, as by Jacob Duck; for £10.10, to McLean).
[F. Kleinberger, Paris, by 1912].

(Sale, Musée Galliera, Paris, 28 November 1972, no. 16, as by Jacob Duck, for 38,000
francs).
(Sale, Christie’s, London, 5 July 1985, no. 25).
(Sale, Christie’s, Amsterdam, 11 May 2005, no. 63 [Johnny van Haeften, Ltd., London,
2005].
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2005.

Provenance Notes

1. The painting was described in the 1972 Musée Galliera sale catalogue as from the collectionof Émile Péreire. However, no paintings by Ter Borch (or of this description) are listed in salesof paintings from the Péreire collection held in 1868 or 1872; nor is there mention of apainting fitting this description in T. Thoré, “Les cabinets d’amateurs à Paris: Galerie de MM.
Péreire,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6 (1864): 193–213, 297–317.
© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
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2. Joseph Grego was a noted writer on art. His collecting interests centered on English
caricatures and European arms and armor.

Exhibition History
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, January 2011–August 2015, on loan with the permanentcollection [lent by the present owner].
Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The
Leiden Collection,” 17 June–3 September 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden
Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection,” 23 September 2017–25 February 2018 [lentby the present owner].

References
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch
Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith. Edited and translatedby Edward G. Hawke, 5: 21, no. 42. 8 vols. London, 1907–28. Originally published as
Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten höllandischen
Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28.
Gudlaugsson, Sturla J. Geraert ter Borch. 2 vols. The Hague, 1959–60, 1:44, pl. 20; 2:63, no.
20.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards.”
In

Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Edited by Lara

Yeager-Crasselt, 124, no. 52, 184, no. 52. Translated by Li Ying. Exh. cat. Beijing, National
Museum of China. Beijing, 2017.
Long Museum, West Bund. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age:
Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Exh. cat. Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund.
Shanghai, 2017, 132, 134–35.

Versions

Versions and Copies© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
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1. After Gerard ter Borch, Cardplaying Soldiers, support and measurements unknown, formerly
dealer Guido Arnot, London, 1920 (as by Jan van Huchtenberg). Locates the figures in an
outdoor setting. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60),
2:63, no. 20.a.

2. After Gerard ter Borch, A Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards,
support and measurements unknown, untraceable. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch,
2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:63, no. 20.b.

3. After Gerard ter Borch, A Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards, oil on
panel, 47 x 63 cm, formerly dealer K. Hermsen, The Hague, 1930; sale, Paris, 5 May 1947,
no. 72. Costumes updated to 1650s. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The
Hague, 1959–60), 2:63, no. 20.c.

4. After Gerard ter Borch, Cardplaying Soldiers, oil on panel, 64 x 72 cm, formerly dealer J.
Goudstikker, Amsterdam, 1914–17; collection Cremers, The Hague, 1918. Numerous
variations in details, including translating the cylindrical protrusion of the trunk lid in the left
foreground into a hat resting on top of the trunk, relocating the hearth to the right, andreplacing the doorway at left with an arched opening. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter
Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:63, no. 20.d.

5. After Gerard ter Borch, A Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards, oil oncanvas, 37 x 49 cm, formerly dealer J. Böhler, Munich, 1955. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert
ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:63, no. 20.e.

6. After Gerard ter Borch, A Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards, oil on
panel, 35 x 48 cm, formerly sale, Brussels, 22/23 December 1950, lot 243. Sturla J.
Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:63–64, no. 20.f.

7. After Gerard ter Borch, A Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards,
support and measurements unknown, formerly E. Bolton, London, 1927.

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of horizontally grained, rectangular-shaped oak with a narrow woodaddition along the lower edge, has no bevels. The thinned panel has had narrow wood shims
attached to all four sides, and the enlarged support has been cradled. A horizontal split along thecenter of the right half of the composition has been repaired. There are no wax collection seals,
import stamps, stencils, paper labels, inscriptions, or panel maker’s marks along the panel orcradle reverse.
A ground has been thinly and evenly applied. Areas of less opaque paint reveal a red-orange
underlayer that is indicative of a light red ground. The paint has been applied with transparent
glazes through the red-orange jacket and trousers, and more thickly, with no obvious brushmarks© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Guardroom Interior with Soldiers Smoking and Playing Cards
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or impasto, through the flesh tones and white highlights.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 720 nanometers. In the Xradiograph, a radio-opaque area above the barrel on the left suggests an object such as acontainer of liquid was painted out during the paint stage.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2005 and remains in an excellent state ofpreservation.[1]Technical Summary Endnotes

1. Entry based on a 2012 examination report by Jevon Thistlewood, paintings conservator,
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection