Possibly Johanna van den Berch (Bergh), Amsterdam and Achtienhoven, widow of Gerard Stijls (d. 1673), provost of the College of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, later wife of Justus van Sonsbeeck, sheriff of Achtienhoven, by 9 Feb. 1678, as “f.46 (1) een Tesselstrant van Jan de Vlieger.”(2) Possibly John Stewart (sale, London, Barford, 11 Mar. 1783, lot 59, as “A sea view on the coast of Holland, acalm, with a variety of shipping and boats; a very brilliant and transparent picture, in high preservation,” sold for £48.6). Probably George Watson Taylor (1770–1841), London and Erlestoke Mansion near Devizes, Wiltshire (sale, London, Christie’s, 13 June 1823, lot 51, as “A Harbour with Boats near a Strand, and a Ship firing a Salute, a Fisherman in the front ground; the Scene is enlivened by a beautiful sky. An Admirable Picture for richness of colour and transparent effect,” sold for £131.5 to); Lawley, (3) 18 Grosvenor Square, London. T. A. Carlyon, Bournemouth (estate sale, London, Christie’s, 4 Oct. 1946, lot 83, as “The Arrival of the Prince of Orange, at Flushing,” sold for £483 to); [D. Katz, Dieren]. [A. Kaufmann, London, in 1946]. [Alfred Brod, London, 1952]. Mrs. M. D. Langloh-van den Bergh, Wassenaar (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 10 Dec. 1980, lot 82, sold to); [David Koetser, Geneva, sold 1981 to]; Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter, Los Angeles, given 1995 to; LACMA.
Footnotes
(1) 46 florins. Note, all the paintings listed in the inventory were valued 46 florins.
(2) “A beach at Texel by Jan de Vlieger.” The painting is mentioned in the inventory made of Johanna van den Bergh’s possessions in anticipation of her remarriage: “Inventaris van de goederen die Johanna vanden Berch weduwe van Gerard Stijls in sijn leven geweldige provost van het Collegie ter Admiraliteijt tot Amsterdam heft ingebracht by haar huwelijk met Justus van Sonsbeeck schout van Achtienhoven,” 9 Feb. 1678, Gemeentearchief, Utrecht, GAU U080a005, fols. 42r–55r (quoted from Getty Provenance Index, Archival Inventories Database, N-75). No seventeenth-century artist is known with the last name De Vlieger and the first name of Jan; the attribution probably represents the notary’s misreading of the S with which Simon de Vlieger signed the painting.
(3) Possibly Paul Beilby Lawley (1784–1852), 1st Baron Wenlock, who changed his name to Paul Beilby Thompson in 1820.
