SMOKING CLUB

Original 1840s 10 1/2 inch x 7 7/8 inch Engraving Titled THE SMOKING CLUB – DIE RAUCHGESELLSCHAFT.

Interior of a Dutch inn with smoking peasants seated around two tables.

Engraving by W. French.

From the painting by David Teniers the Younger (1610 – 1690). Born in Antwerp, son and pupil of David Teniers I, but much more famous. He married Anna, daughter of Jan Bruegel the Elder in 1637 with Rubens as witness. He became a master in the Antwerp painters’ guild in 1632 and was appointed the dean in 1645. Early he was influenced by Adriaen Brouwer and created mostly religious scenes. By 1640, however, David Teniers was concentrating upon the genre scenes and depictions of peasant life for which his art gained its greatest renown. In 1651 David Teniers moved to Brussels where Archduke Leopold Wilhelm appointed him both as the court painter and the keeper of his prestigious art collection. In 1660 he published the Theatrum Pictorium and, in 1665, was the chief founder of the Antwerp Academy.

Published for the Proprietors by A.H. Payne, Dresden & Leipzig.

Image size 6 1/2 inch x 4 3/4 inch

The engraving is in very good condition. Reverse side is blank.