Rembrandt The Artist's Mother Seated, in an Oriental Headdress: Half Length, 1631 is one of two “half-length” studies of his mother. Rembrandt’s depiction of his aged mother in a beautiful “oriental headdress” contains delicate detail reflective of a loving intimacy between mother and son. While “she still acts as the model embodying dignified old age,” the soft execution of line used to construct her facial features suggests Rembrandt’s desire to capture a soft and gentler representation of his beloved mother (White 112)”.

Scholars speculate that Rembrandt worked in a “live etching” format, whereupon his mother, as model, would be seated in the studio while Rembrandt worked directly on the plate. In this sense, the portrait has more active and fresh characteristics in the line and technique, which are reflective of the Master Artist’s live interaction with his model.

Created in 1631, this etching is signed in monogram and dated by Rembrandt, ‘RHL 1631’ in the plate in the lower right. A lifetime impression, according to Hind State II (of III); Biörklund State II (of III); Boon & White State II (of III), printed on fine  laid paper with the Arms of Regensberg watermark dating this paper to c. 1631 (Ash and Fletcher, 8. A.a).

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Rembrandt The Artist's Mother Seated, in an Oriental Headdress: Half Length, 1631, 1631 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoice accompanying the final sale of the work):

1. Ash, Nancy & Shelley Fletcher. Watermarks in Rembrandt’s Prints. Washington D.C., 1998. Watermark listed and illustrated as catalogue no. 8 Arms of Regensberg A.a.
2. Bartsch. The Illustrated Bartsch Vol. 50.  Edited by Stephanie S. Dickey.  New York: Abaris Books, 1981.Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 348 (another example illustrated).
3. Biörklund, George. Rembrandt’s Etchings: True and False, Stockholm: George Biörklund, 1968. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. BB 31-H.
4. Hind, Arthur. A Catalogue of Rembrandt’s Etchings. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 51.
5. Hinterding, Erik and Rutgers, Jaco. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engraving and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt Text I 1625-1635 nos. 1-155. Edited by Ger Luijten. Amsterdam: Sound and Vision Publishers, 2013. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 86.
6. Hinterding, Erik and Rutgers, Jaco. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engraving and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt Plates I 1625-1634 nos. 1-138. Edited by Ger Luijten. Amsterdam: Sound and Vision Publishers, 2013. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 86.
7. Mϋnz, Ludwig. Rembrandt’s Etchings: Reproductions of the Whole Original Etched Work, Vol. 1. London: Phaidon Press, 1952.  Listed as catalogue raisonné. no. 99.
8. Mϋnz, Ludwig. Rembrandt’s Etchings: Reproductions of the Whole Original Etched Work, Vol.2. London: Phaidon Press, 1952.. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 86.
9. Nowell-Eusticke, G.W. Rembrandt’s Etchings. New York: Hacker Art Books, Inc., 1988. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 348.
10. White, Christopher and Boon, Karel. Rembrandt’s Etchings, Vol. 1, Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co.,1969. Listed catalogue raisonné no.  B 348.
11. White, Christopher and Boon, Karel. Rembrandt’s Etchings, Vol. 2, Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co.,1969. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. B 348.
12. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Rembrandt The Artist's Mother Seated, in an Oriental Headdress: Half Length, 1631, 1631 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and finished with linen-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.