painting (oil): ["A Peasant Carrying a Pole"]

In the foreground is a man carrying a long pole over his left shoulder. He wears a blue hat and brown coat and black trousers with gaiters. His mouth is open as if he was calling out. A village can be seen in the background. Virag 09/12/2004, Between 1984 and 1985, a research assistant, Dr. Brendan Cassidy, was employed by Nottingham Castle Museum to research and write a catalogue of the foreign oil paintings in their collection. The catalogue never materialised, but drafts and notes relating to Cassidy's research can be found in the Artist Files and in the Archive at the museum. All references to Cassidy relate to these documents. The panel was re-attributed from "David Teniers the Yonger" to "Studio of David Teniers the Younger" c. 1984 by Dr. Brendan Cassidy, who thought the panel "more likely to be a shop piece". On the front: There is a small hairline crack at upper centre. There is notiveable cracking in other places, such as in between the feet of the peasant. On the reverse: There are a few exposed worm holes in the centre of the panel, suggesting that the panel has been filed down. 1. NCM accession number Two labels taken from the reverse of NCM 1904-109 were found in the Artist File: 1. A strip of browned paper, in pencil: "WALL. E5" This probably relates to a previous location of the panel at Nottingham Castle Museum, where the galleries are labelled A-F. 2. Label with ornate dark blue border and ornate lilac script (much is obscured by dirt or has faded): "H [I?] Rutley 20…..road ………….." The same label was found on the reverse of one other painting in the Nottingham collection (NCM 1904-103) which was bequested by Richard Godson Millns where the letteringon the label can be identified as: "H [I?] Rutley / 20 Circus Road / Regent's Park / NW". Ncm 1904-109 could have formed one of a series on the subject of the Four Seasons. There is a similar figure with a pole representing "Winter" in a series by Teniers in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London. It is also possible that NCM 1904-109 could be a depiction of an itinerant peddlar or labourer, which Teniers often painted. Cassidy has considered the possibility that NCM 1904-109 once belonged with two panels owned by Lord Sackville of Sevenoaks, Kent. The guidebook for the Sackville seat, Knole House, Kent, lists these panels as no. 106 "A Quack Doctor" and no. 107 "A Musician" and states that both panels were bought by the 3rd Duke of Dorset in 1771. Vita Sackville-West, Knole, Kent (National Trust Guidebook), London, 1948, p. 22. Cassidy's notes also suggest that he believes the Nottingham panel may once have been in the collection of Dawson Turner (1775-1858). This is on the basis of an engraving by John Sell Cotman after a Teniers that belonged to Dawson Turner and which bears a close resemblance to the Nottingham picture. There is no indication of where the J.S.Cotman engraving picture is held, but Cassidy has clearly seen it. Consultation of the Dawson Turner sale at Christie's, London, 14 May 1852 finds two panels of which no. 31; "By, or after Teniers - A man in a grey dress, carrying a long pole; a village in the background", would seem to match the composition of NCM 1904-109. However, the coat of the man in NCM 1904-109 would appear to be more brown than grey in colour. No. 31 was sold a sone of a pair with no. 30; "By, or after Teniers - "The Liqueur-seller: a man, in a yellow dress, hat, and feathers, with a basket of bottles suspended fro his shoulders, and holding a glass in his hand; the background, a landscape". The panel was cleaned and restored in 1983 by Jesse Bruton Picture Restoration, Wolverhampton. The treatment involved stabilising the ground and paint film, removing old varnish and re-varnishing. Virag 09/12/2004, Collection of Richard Godson Millns.