Woman Seated at Her Toilet

ca. 1657 or later

Studio of Gerard ter Borch

oil on panel
47 x 35 cm
GB-107© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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How To CiteWieseman, Marjorie E. "Woman Seated at Her Toilet." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited byArthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017.
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Woman Seated at Her Toilet
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In this placid vignette, a young woman fiddles with a lock of her hair as she

Comparative Figures

stares pensively at her image reflected in the small mirror on the table
before her. Other toilet accessories are scattered across the table: a roundsilver box, a candlestick, a brush, a pincushion, and a single strand ofpearls. The woman’s attentive maid stands just behind, patiently pulling acomb through her mistress’s dark blond curls. In the right foreground is alow table with an ivory comb resting at one corner; filling much of thebackground of the scene is an ornate chimneypiece.
The subject of a woman at her toilet was one of the most popular themesin Dutch genre painting during the second half of the seventeenth century,
charmingly explored on multiple occasions by artists such as Gerrit Dou(1613–75), Gabriel Metsu (1639–67), Frans van Mieris (1635–81), Caspar
Netscher (1639–84), and Johannes Vermeer (1632–75) in addition toFig 1. Gerard ter Borch, A Lady
Dressing Her Hair, ca. 1657–58,
oil on panel, 35 x 25 cm, The
Wallace Collection, London, no.
235, © The Wallace Collection

Gerard ter Borch the Younger. While some paintings draw conspicuous
parallels with popular imagery and rhetoric that associated womenregarding themselves in a mirror with the sins of pride and lust,[1] others
focus more simply on the pleasurably sensual qualities of these intimate
feminine rituals. Considering Ter Borch’s life-long fascination with the quiet
beauty and cherished minutiae of women’s domestic preoccupations, it isno surprise that depicting women at their toilet became one of his favoredthemes. Images of women primping and preening, adjusting their costume,or dressing their hair offered viewers a discreet glimpse of these private
rituals. The ubiquitous presence of a maid—sometimes older, butinvariably plain and soberly dressed—introduced a contrast that subtly
accentuated the youthful beauty and feminine grace of the woman beinggroomed.

Fig 2. Attributed to Gerard ter
Borch, The Duet, ca. 1669, oil oncanvas, 82.5 x 72 cm, Musée duLouvre, Paris, inv. 1900, Erich
Lessing / Art Resource, NY

Ter Borch treated the subject of a woman dressing her hair, assisted byher maid, on at least three occasions. Each time he expressed a slightly
different understanding of the event, underscoring his unique sensitivity to
the minute but fascinating variations that can be found in even the mostmundane, repetitive activities. Ter Borch first approached the theme in apainting of about 1650 or slightly earlier, now known only throughcopies.[2] The composition shows a woman seated at her dressing tablewith a small dog in her lap. She peers at her reflected image in a mirror
supported by a young boy, as she and her maid coax her long blond locks
into some intricate coiffure. Woman Seated at Her Toilet incorporates
most of the same elements but reverses the orientation of the figures andFig 3. Detail showing painted
monogram and wax seal on
reverse of A Woman Seated atHer Toilet, GB-107© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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omits the young boy.
Woman Seated at Her Toilet is most closely related to Ter Borch’sA Lady
Dressing Her Hair, of about 1657–58 in the Wallace Collection in London(fig 1). The basic compositional elements are identical in both pictures: awoman seated at a plush-covered dressing table with her maid standing
just behind, and a massive marble chimneypiece in the left background.
In Woman Seated at Her Toilet , the costume of the seated woman has
been modified slightly and a small table was added at the lower right. The
figure of the maid is no longer in profile, but turned three-quarters to theviewer, her head bent to the task of combing her mistress’s long hair. Thecomposition has been expanded on all sides, effectively distancing thefigures from the picture plane. By making this small adjustment, the artistof this work replaced the disarming intimacy of the Wallace Collection
picture with a cool detachment that supports the changes he made in thefigures themselves. Whereas in the Wallace Collection picture the maidseems to chatter gaily to the woman seated before her, here she seems
more subservient, more distant, engaging less with her mistress and theviewer. Her downturned face masks her expression, introducing a degreeof ambiguity.
Gudlaugsson described Woman Seated at Her Toilet as a relatively latework by Ter Borch, of about 1670,[3] constituting a reprise of a subject that
had occupied him at least a dozen years before. It seems more likely,
however, that the picture is a roughly contemporary variation of theWallace Collection’s A Lady Dressing Her Hair . The woman’s costume(specifically her red jacket) and hairstyle are more in keeping with styles ofthe late 1650s; furthermore, the marble chimneypiece appears in otherpaintings by Ter Borch of the late 1650s (including fig. 1), but not in any
autograph works from around 1670. Although the elongated proportions ofthe figures in Woman Seated at Her Toilet —the slim ovoid heads, narrowshoulders, and attenuated limbs—are seen in a few other genre paintings
ascribed to this period, for example The Duet in the Louvre, dated about
1669 (fig 2), they appear less gracefully integrated here. This weakness,
as well as the simplistic modeling of the draperies and the overly sharp
contours of the figures against the background, suggest that WomanSeated at Her Toilet was produced by a member of Ter Borch’s studiorather than by the master himself.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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Woman Seated at Her Toilet is generally in good condition, although thedark background is somewhat worn and some pigments (notably the dark
blue of the maid’s apron) appear to have deteriorated. The rather flat
appearance of the woman’s red jacket may result from the loss of the thinglazes typically applied atop the paint layer to shade and model forms. Onthe back of the panel is a red wax collection seal, which, thoughfragmentary, bears an impression of a crenellated tower on a shield borne
aloft by two griffins, motifs belonging to the arms of the Neufville family in
the Netherlands.[4] There is also a painted insignia incorporating the initials
GSI, which has not yet been identified (fig 3).

-Marjorie E. Wieseman© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Seated at Her Toilet
Page 6 of 11Endnotes
1. See Eric Jan Sluijter, “Een stuck waerin een jufr voor de spiegel van Gerrit Douw,” Antiek 23(1988): 150–61.
2. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:95–96, no. 76;
sale, Brussels, 9 March 1953, no. 93.
3. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:212.
4. See A. C. de Neufville, Histoire généalogique de la maison de Neufville (Amsterdam, 1869),
193ff.

Provenance
Robbert de Neufville, Leiden (his sale, Haak, Leiden, 15 March 1736, no. 9 [for 42 florins]).
Nicolaas Nieuhoff, Amsterdam (his sale, Van der Schey-de Winter-Yver, Amsterdam, 14April 1777, no. 29 [for 800 florins to Fouquet]).
[M. Antoine-Charles Dulac, Paris (sale, Chariot-Paillet, Paris, 30 November 1778, no. 240[for 1,960 livres to Dubois])].
Jan Jansz Gildemeester, Amsterdam (his sale, Van der Schley, Amsterdam, 11 June 1800,no. 29 [for 255 florins to B. Kooy]).
Arend van der Werff van Zuidland, Dordrecht (his sale, Versteegh, Dordrecht, 31 July 1811,no. 111 [for 140 florins to Meulemans for Van der Werff of Haarlem]).
Chevalier Sébastian Érard (1752–1831), Château de la Muette, Passy (his sale, HenryLacoste, Paris, 23 April 1832 [date of sale changed to 7–14 August 1832], no. 154 [for 2,000francs to Henry (bought in)]; sale Érard et al., Christie’s, London, 22 June 1833, no. 9[bought in at £65.2]). 1[1]G. de Poulton Nicholson, Berlin (his sale, Lepke, Berlin, 8 April 1924, no. 70 [for 20,500marks]). 2[2][Steinmeyer, Lucerne, 1924; S. Bolton, London, 1925; Böhler and Steinmeyer, New York,1929].
(Sale, Sir George Vernon et al., Puttick & Simpson, London, 27 November 1929, no. 44 [as“Property of a Gentleman” (W. G. Eden); £15 to Cooper (bought in)]).
(Sale, Lord Dewar et al., Puttick & Simpson, London, 28 May 1930, no. 108 [property of W.
G. Eden; £6.60 to Ede (bought in)]).
Hershel V. Jones (1861–1928), Minneapolis; by descent to Mrs. Hershel V. Jones, New York© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Seated at Her Toilet
Page 7 of 11(sale, Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet, New York, 18 April 1940, no. 57; for $1,900 to D. W.
Cooper]).
D. W. Cooper; by descent to Elizabeth C. Dunham (sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 8 October
1993, no. 178A.
Private collection (sale, Christie’s, London, 6 December 2007, no. 55 [Johnny Van Haeften,London, 2007]).
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2007.

Provenance Notes

1. The present painting was among those withdrawn from sale by Érard’s nephew, PierreOrphée Érard, to be offered for sale in London in hopes of achieving a better price; see AnikDevries, “Sébastien Érard, un amateur d’art du début du XIXe siècle et ses conseillers,”
Gazette des Beaux-Arts 123 (1981): 84.
2. Gudlaugsson (Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. [The Hague, 1959–60],
2:212) recorded the painting in the collection of Dr. Wolffenberg, Berlin, in 1924; however, as
Adolf and Gustav Wolffenberg were co-owners of Lepke’s auction house at the time, thisreference may simply indicate that he saw the painting at the auctioneers’ prior to the sale.

Exhibition History
Detroit Institute of Arts, “Ninth Loan Exhibition of Dutch Genre and Landscape Painting,” 16October–10 November 1929, no. 72 (lent by Böhler and Steinmeyer, New York).

References
Hoet, Gerard. Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderyen . 2 vols. The Hague, 1752, 1:458, no.
9.
Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish andFrench Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829–42, 4:123, no. 17, as probably a copy after Ter
Borch.
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Hofstede de Groot, Cornelius. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent
Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith . 8 vols.
London, 1907–27. Translated from Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke
der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts . 10 vols. Esslingen andParis, 1907–28, 5:27, no. 65.
Von Bode, Willem. “Kunsthistorische Ausbeute aus dem deutschen Kunsthandel vonHeute.” Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 46, no. 1 (1925): 117–18, fig. 5.
Donath, Adolph. “Der Kunstmarkt 1923/24.” Jahrbuch für Kunstsammler, nos. 4–5 (1925):
103–4, fig. 38.
Valentiner, Willem. Ninth Loan Exhibition of Dutch Genre and Landscape Painting . Exh. cat.
Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1929, xvii, no. 72.
Gudlaugsson, Sturla, J. Geraert ter Borch. 2 vols. The Hague, 1959–60, 1:365, fig. 234;
2:142 (under no. 127), 211–14, no. 234.
Ingamells, John. The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Pictures, vol. 4, Dutch and Flemish.
London, 1992, 39.

Versions
Versions and Copies
1. Gerard ter Borch, A Lady at Her Toilet , ca. 1657–58, oil on panel, 35 x 25 cm, Wallace
Collection, London, no. 235. Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of theWorks of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Workof John Smith, 8 vols. (London, 1907–27), translated from Beschreibendes und kritischesVerzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts,
10 vols. (Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28), 5:22–23, no. 48; Sturla J. Gudlaugsson,Geraert terBorch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:141–42, no. 127.

2. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on panel, 31 x 25 or 53 x 40 cm,
formerly H. Reinhardt Galleries, New York, 1925; sale, Charles Stokvis, Galerie des BeauxArts, Brussels, 17 November 1947, no. 107 (this sale is not noted in Gudlaugsson). Sturla J.
Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:212, no. 234a (aspossibly identical to Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of theMost Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John
Smith, 8 vols. [London, 1907–27], translated from Beschreibendes und kritischesVerzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts,10 vols. [Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28], 5:26, no. 60a).
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3. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, 57 x 47 cm, formerly
private collection, Basel, 1957; (possibly) sale, Christies, London, 10 July 1992, no. 142 (asfollower of Ter Borch). Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague,1959–60), 2:213, no. 234a. Composition expanded at left and right sides.

4. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, 43 x 35.5 cm, sale J.
Witsen, Amsterdam, 16 August 1790, no. 9 (for fl. 41 to Coclers); present whereabouts
unknown. Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most
Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith , 8vols. (London, 1907–27), translated from Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis derWerke der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 10 vols.
(Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28), 5:27, under no. 65; Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert terBorch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:213, no. 234b (as possibly identical with one ormore of the other versions listed).

5. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, 48.5 x 40 cm, formerly
G. Neumans, Paris, 1912. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague,1959–60), 2:213, no. 234c. Hofstede de Groot considered this genuine, but dirty andpossibly overpainted. Possibly identical to Version 4, 6, or 7.

6. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , monogrammed GTB lower right, oilon canvas, 46 x 36 cm, sale Mme la Marquise d’Aoust, Lair-Dubreuil and Féral, Paris, 5June 1924, no. 96 (as attributed to Ter Borch); current whereabouts unknown. Sturla J.
Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:213, no. 234d (possiblyidentical to Version 4, 5, or 7). Seen by Hofstede de Groot and judged genuine, but
completely overpainted.

7. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, 48.5 x 40 cm, formerly
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, ca. 1940. With modifications to hairstyle and chimneypiece.
Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:213, no. 234e
(as workshop; possibly identical to Version 4, 5, or 6).

8. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm, sale
Sotheby’s, London, 8 July 1981, no. 99; sale, Koller, Zürich, 3–4 June 1983, no. 5018.
(possibly) Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most
Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith , 8vols. (London, 1907–27), translated from Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis derWerke der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 10 vols.
(Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28), 5:20, no. 43; Eduard Plietzsch, Gerard ter Borch (Vienna,1944), 50, under no. 67 (as variant of the Wallace Collection painting); Sturla J.
Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:213, no. 234f (asworkshop), enlarged composition.

9. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, 78 x 67 cm, formerly© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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private collection, Switzerland, 1955. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (TheHague, 1959–60), 2:213–14, no. 234g, enlarged composition.

10. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on canvas, measurements
unknown, sale D. N. Teengs, Monnikendam, 23 September 1824, no. 11. Cornelis Hofstedede Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of theSeventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith , 8 vols. (London, 1907–27),translated

from

Beschreibendes

undkritischesVerzeichnis

derWerkederhervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 10 vols. (Esslingen andParis, 1907–28), 5:26, no. 61; Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague,1959–60), 2:214, no. 234h (as possibly identical to his no. 234f or 234g, our Versions 8 and9).

11. After Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Seated at Her Toilet , oil on panel, 53 x 40.5 cm, formerly
Galerie Koller, Zürich, 1966; sale, Moharishuis, Arnhem, 24–29 November 1968, no. 146.

12. After Gerard ter Borch, Woman Dressing Her Hair, with a Maid , support and dimensions
unknown, sale, Zeger Hasebroek, Leiden, 26 April 1763, no. 124 (“Een Dame, die haar
Paleert, met haar Dienstmaagd, naar Ter Burg”). Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch,
2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), 2:212, under no. 234.

Versions Notes

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of vertically grained but horizontally oriented rectangular-shapedoak, has bevels along the upper and lower sides only.[1] The panel is unthinned and uncradledand has no machine tool marks. There is one red wax collection seal, one import stamp, astencil, three labels, and a hand-painted cross but no panel maker’s mark.
A light gray-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied. The paint has been built up insuccessive thin layers, light over dark, allowing the darker layers beneath the flesh tones to show
through. Delicate dots of light add highlights along the figure’s skirt, earrings, and pearl necklace
on the table.
No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000 nanometers. The
images and pentimenti indicate minor compositional changes during the paint stage. The fingersof the figure’s proper right hand have been uncurled, the palm has been shifted closer to the© 2017 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

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figure, and the elbow has been raised.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2008 and remains in a good state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on visual examination only.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection