Peeckelhaeringh, or Pekelharing, refers to an old Dutch word for pickled herring. Today it is best known as the name of a comic theatrical character who was the subject of a painting by
Frans Hals
Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem.
Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...
.
A stock character in 17th-century comic plays, Mr. Peeckelhaering was a gluttonous buffoon whose diet of herring gave him an insatiable thirst.Slive, Seymour (1990). ''Frans Hals (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1. October - 31 December 1989... )''. London: Royal Acad. of Arts. p. 216. . Hals's painting of the character is an oil on canvas and dates from ca. 1628–1630. The painting was documented by
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (9 November 1863 – 14 April 1930), was a Dutch art collector, art historian and museum curator.
Life
He was born in Dwingeloo and spent some time in Switzerland in his youth due to weak lungs, where he learned German ...
in 1910, who wrote:
95. THE MERRY TOPER. B. 97; M. 267. Half-length, life size. A laughing man with a brown face is turned half right. His head is slightly inclined to the left; he looks at the spectator. He has a slight beard and moustache. His rough hair sticks out from beneath a flat red cap with yellow trimming. His costume is also red and yellow. In his left hand he holds a mug with open lid. In the same style as 96 and 98. This picture is represented in two pictures by Jan Steen, Nos. 137 and 446 (see Vol. I.). endant to 123. Compare 99a.Signed on the right above the mug " f. hals f."; canvas, 29 1/2 inches by 24 inches. Engraved by J. Suyderhoef as "Monsieur Peeckelhaering." Under the name "Peeckelhaering" pictures are mentioned in the inventories of Henric Bugge, Leyden, 1666; Hendrick Huyck, Nymwegen, January 10, 1669; and Jan Zeeuw and Marie Bergervis, who died 1690, Amsterdam according to notes by A. Bredius. A copy on canvas, 29 1/2 inches by 26 inches, signed on the right with the monogram was in the sale: Vicomte de Buisseret, Brussels, April 29, 1891, No. 41. In the chief Kassel inventory of 1749, No. 363. In the Kassel Gallery, 1903 catalogue, No. 216.Hofstede de Groot on "The Merry Toper"; catalog number 95
A reproductive print of Hals's painting made by the local engraver
Jonas Suyderhoef
Jonas Suyderhoef (1613 in Haarlem – 1686 in Haarlem), was a Dutch Golden Age engraver.
Biography
According to the RKD he was known as a draughtsman and printmaker.
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...