? Commissioned by Adam Oortmans (1622-1684) and his wife Petronella Oortmans-De La Court (1624-1707), Amsterdam, c. 1682-92;{Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), archive 5338 (notary G. Ypelaar), fols. 553 ff., _Inventaris van den boedel en nalatenschap van wijlen Juffr. Petronella de la Court weduwe van wijlen d’Heer Adam Oortmans in dato 16 Augusti 1707_, fol. 634 (_Op de witte Zaal_): _Een ijvore Mars van Francis_ (An ivory Mars by Francis), with as its pendant, _Een dito Venus, beijde met ebbehoute pedestale_ (A ditto Venus, both with ebony pedestal).} her sale, Amsterdam (Raket/Zomer), 20-21 October 1707, pp. 19-20;{_Een Mars, staande op een Ebbenhoute Pedestal_ […] _door den vermaarden Mr. Françis van Bossu, overkunstig uit ivoor gesneeden_ (A Mars, standing on an Ebony Pedestal […] by the esteemed Mr Françis van Bossu, exquisitely carved from ivory).}
…;{Tonneman unlikely acquired these works directly from Petronella de la Court’s sale in 1707, as at this time he was only twenty years of age. One may therefore assume there was probably an unknown buyer before him. My thanks to Margreet van der Hut (written communication, 15 March 2017) for this observation.} sale collection Jeronimus Tonneman (1687-1750), Amsterdam (Hendrik de Leth), 21 October 1754, p. 8, no. 3,{No. 3: _1 Herkules_ [sic], _niet minder konstig, door Francis gesneeden, hoog 17 duim_. (Hercules, no less beautiful, carved by Francis, height 17 thumbs). Because both the size and the pendant piece are accurate, one must assume that this was the Mars. No. 2 is the pendant piece: _Een Venusbeeld zeer konstig van Ivoor gesneeden, waarvan nooit de weerga gezien is, door Francis, hoog 16 ½ duim, staande op een Ebbehoute voet_. (A Venus statuette very beautifully carved from Ivory, of which the equal has never been seen, by Francis, height 16 ½ thumbs, standing on an Ebony pedestal.).} fl. 1,000, to ‘De Smeth’;{Copy RMA: ‘De Smeth’ (probably referring to Theodorus de Smeth). Copy RKD: ‘Ter Smitten’ (likely a misinterpretation of the name De Smeth). The same person also purchased No. 2 (_Venus_, the pendant piece).} ? from collection Theodorus de Smeth (1710-1772), Lord of Deurne and Liessel, Amsterdam to ? his son Dirk de Smeth (1755-1779), 29 April 1773;{On 29 April 1773, Theodorus de Smeth’s art collection was equally divided between his two sons, Pieter and Dirk, see L. Meerman, ‘An Unwritten Chapter of Dutch Collecting History: The Painting Collection of Pieter de Smeth van Alphen (1753-1810)’, _Simiolus_ 40 (2018), no. 1, pp. 18-98, esp. pp. 24-25. Nevertheless, nowhere are the Mars and Venus mentioned in any of the sale catalogues of Pieter de Smeth van Alphen’s collection (Lugt 7842, 1-2 August 1810 (paintings); Lugt 7858, 3-5 September 1810 (medals); Lugt 7860, 5 September 1810 (books, prints, cards), from which one may tentatively conclude that both statuettes were allotted to Pieter’s brother, Dirk (that is, excluding the unlikely event that Theodorus de Smeth had previously sold the ivories during his lifetime).} ? his son Theodorus Baron de Smeth (1779-1859), 1779;{Following his untimely death in 1779, Dirk de Smeth’s collection was subsequently inherited by his then only two-month-old son, Theodorus de Smeth (1779-1859), who likely sold the ivories, perhaps after the death of his uncle, Pieter, in 1809. The buyer could very well have been Anna Maria Hogguer-Ebeling, who was capable of building an exceptional collection of art in part thanks to the capital of her husband, the banker Paul Iwan Hogguer.} …; collection Jonkheer Paul Iwan Hogguer (1760-1816){His parents were Daniel Baron Hogguer, Count of Bignan (1722-1793), banker and merchant, and Henriette de Mauclerc (1726-1794). Hogguer was married twice: in 1788 to Anna Maria Ebeling (1767-1812), and in 1814, to Cornelia Margaretha van Weede (1769-1837). One daughter was born of the first marriage: Ernestina Henrietta Maria Paulina (1790-1811). ‘Hogguer’ is a francization of the Swiss surname ‘Högger’. Hogguer was from a banking family. A banking crisis in 1773 may possibly have forced Paul Hogguer’s father, himself a banker, to accept the position of _gevolmachtigd minister bij de Nedersaksische Kreitz en de Hanzesteden_ (Minister Plenipotentiary of the Lower Saxony Kreitz and the Hanseatic Cities). Nevertheless, this failed to deter the son from seeking a career in the banking world. In 1787, Paul Hogguer -- together with George Grand, a former member of the banking firm Fizeaux, Grand & Co., for which the younger Hogguer also worked - founded the banking firm Hogguer, Grand & Co. In 1795, the firm’s name was changed to ‘Hogguer & Co’. Hogguer was highly successful as a banker and managed to amass a large fortune. Between 1791 and 1795, he also held various civic functions as _schepen_ (magistrate) and Commissioner of Naval Affairs in Amsterdam. In 1795, the city would lose its standing as a centre of the financial world - a consequence of the French occupation of the Netherlands. At this time, many of Amsterdam’s most prominent financial figures fled to England. Hogguer remained behind in Amsterdam, yet during this period it would appear he too withdrew from many of his previous endeavours, both in business and society. Following the departure of the French, Hogguer was appointed one of Amsterdam’s four burgomasters and as chief director of the Amsterdam Drawing Academy in 1814. Together with J. Bondt, he also acted as an advisor involved in the establishing of a central Dutch bank. When ‘De Nederlandse Bank’ opened its doors in April 1814, Hogguer presided as the bank’s first President-Director. See also Nationaal Archief, The Hague, De Nederlandsche Bank N.V., Archief van president Jhr. Paul Iwan Hogguer, 1814-1816, inv. no. 2.25.69.01.} and his wife Anna Maria Hogguer-Ebeling (1767-1812), Amsterdam or Vreeland (Slotzicht mansion), in or before 1812; ? sale collection Anna Maria Hogguer-Ebeling (1767-1812), Amsterdam (Ph. van der Schley), 18-21 August 1817, no. 28,{_Mars, een zwaard aangrijpende, met een schild aan zyn voeten; fraai door Francis Bossuet, in deszelfs werk bekend, onder No. 48, met een ronde glazen stolp, hoog 17 duimen_ (= 43.7 cm) (Mars, drawing a sword, with a shield at his feet; beautifully by Francis Bossuet, also in the same volume under No. 48, with a round glass bell jar, height 17 thumbs); the piece was sold for fl. 250 to one ‘Swebij’ (my thanks to Margreet van der Hut); Anna Maria Ebeling is also known as ‘Hogguer-Ebeling’ and as ‘Dame de Hoggens’. See also C. Theuerkauff, ‘Zu Francis van Bossuit (1635-1692): ‘‘Beeldsnyder in yvoor’’ʼ, _Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch_ 37 (1975), pp. 119-82, esp. p. 178, no. 45.} fl. 250, to ‘Swebij’; {My thanks to Margreet van der Hut (written communication, 16 April 2014).} …; from sale London (Sotheby’s), 11 October 1949, no. 89 (as ‘Italian, 16th century’),{My thanks to Erik Bijzet, Amsterdam (written communication, 24 November 2019).} £ 48, to the dealer Alfred Spero, London; …; from sale Geneva (Christie’s), 10 November 1976, no. 284 (as ‘Flemish, c. 1700’), SFrcs 70,000, to an anonymous buyer; …; from sale Paris (Drouot-Richelieu), 14 December 1998, no. 110, € 1,600,000, to the museum, with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, with additional funding from the Prins Bernhard Fonds and P. van Dullemen
Bibliography and list of abbreviations for the provenance (pdf)
