Owner: Consorts Schloss — Paris, France
Collection: (Schloss) Adolphe Schloss-The Schloss collection was assembled with great care by Adolphe Schloss, a German Jew who settled in Paris in the late 19th century. In August 1939, the collection was transferred to a vault at the Chateau de Chambon (Corrèze) for safekeeping. On April 16, 1943, a combination of Nazi policemen and French officials from the CGQJ worked together to confiscate the Schloss collection and transfer it to Paris for processing. There, the collection was split into three parts--the largest going to the Linz Museum project. That part of the collection (262 paintings) was transferred to the Führerbau (Munich) on 24 November 1943 where it remained untouched until 29-30 April 1945 when local Munich citizens broke into the building housing the collection and hundreds of other works and stole everything. Nearly half of the Schloss paintings are still unrestituted.
Inventory No.: Schloss 113
Kiste Nr. München Fuhrerbau 7
Tableau No. 128
Artist: Salomon Koninck
Medium: Paintings
Title: Greis, eine Schreibfeder zuschneidend [Vieillard taillant sa plume; Old Man Sharpening his Quill]
Description: Holz
64 x 46 cm (67 x 51,5 cm)
Voll bezeichnet: S.Koninck 1639
Charakteristisch, wenn auch etwas trocken
[Signé des initiales S. K. et daté de 1639]
Literature: Thieme-Becker: Allgem. Lexikon d. bild. Künstler XXI. 1927. S.274.
Provenance and Comments: Slg.John Prinberton, Heywood, Cloveley Hall [John Pemberton Heywood, Cloverley Hall]; Morris Green [, Norris Green]. Slg.Hon Mrs Denman. According to French sources, the painting was sold through Galerie Charpentier in Paris on 5 December 1961. This painting recently resurfaced in November 2017 as consigned by a private collector from Chile for sale at Christie's New York where it was seized by US authorities, and subsequently restituted to the Schloss family on 1 April 2019. The painting last appeared at Christie’s auction on 10 June 2022 as lot no. 7, titled A Scholar Sharpening His Quill, described as “Property from A Distinguished French Private Collection” and was sold for USD 157,000.
Archival Sources: Bundesarchiv, B323/1039; RV 103, MAEE, Paris, France
Measurements: 64 x 48 cm
Signed? Yes
Intake place: 38 avenue Henri Martin, Paris
Transfer place: Chateau de Chambon, Laguenne, Corrèze
Transfer date: 1939-08-20
Transfer place: Banque Dreyfus, Paris, France
Transfer date: 1943-08-11
Transfer place: Jeu de Paume
Transfer date: 1943-11-03
Transfer place: Führerbau, Munich
Transfer date: 1943-11-24
Transfer place: Walther Andreas Hofer/von Unger, Munich
Transfer date: 1952-00-00
Restituted? Yes
Restitution date: 2019-04-01
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