(Antwerp 1611–1661)
Hens and a cockerel in a yard,
signed lower left: J. Fijt. f.,
oil on canvas, 118.6 x 154.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Charles John Robert Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (1863–1957), Heanton Satchville;
his sale, Sotheby’s, London, 31st January 1951, lot 145;
Collection Hans Alfred Wetzlar (1894-1970), Amsterdam;
their sale, Christie’s, Amsterdam, 13th April 2010, lot 78

Literature:
M. J. Friedländer, Collection Dr. H. Wetzlar, Amsterdam 1952, p. 12, no. 32 (ill.)

Fred Meijer of the RKD, The Hague, has identified the present painting as an autograph work by Jan Fyt on the basis of a photograph.

It has been suggested that the seven chickens featured in the present work could represent the seven northern provinces. This is plausible because another version of the present work of 1660 (the Prado, Madrid, see fig. 1) features ten chickens with a view of Antwerp in the background, and these chickens could represent the ten southern provinces. This is further supported by the cockerel in each picture clasping a ring which possibly represents the sovereignty of these provinces.

Additional image:
Jan Fyt, The Hennery, Prado, Madrid
© Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid