The daughters of Sir Matthew Decker, Bart.: 437

Current Location: In storage

Titles

The daughters of Sir Matthew Decker, Bart.

Maker(s)

Entities

Painting

Description

Oil painting on canvas, depicting the four daughters of Sir Matthew Decker. A curtain is pulled aside, revealing Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Henrietta Maria, each dressed in fine clothes. They are either holding or gesturing towards a treasured possession, these being a china doll, a silver lattice work basket piled high with fruit, a bouquet of cultivated roses, and a lapdog. These objects are resting on a carved plinth, depicting children gathered around what may be a goat.

Notes

History note: Presumably coll. Sir Matthew Decker, Bart., his maternal grandfather (d. 1749)

Measurements and weight

Height: 77.5 cm
Width: 66.1 cm

Relative size of this object

What does this represent?

Relative size of this object is displayed using code inspired by Good Form and Spectacle's work on the British Museum's Waddeson Bequest website and their dimension drawer. They chose a tennis ball to represent a universally sized object, from which you could envisage the size of an object.

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1816) by Fitzwilliam, Richard, 7th Viscount

Dating

18th century
Production date: AD 1718

School or Style

Dutch

People, subjects and objects depicted

Materials used in production

Oil paint

Components of the work

Support composed of canvas
Frame Weight 9.5 kg

Techniques used in production

Painting (image-making) : Oil on canvas

Inscription or legends present

Text: I.De Meyer.
Location: On the balustrade
Type: Signature

Text: 1718
Location: On the balustrade
Type: Date

References and bibliographic entries

A Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures in the Fitzwilliam Museum page(s): 130
The Principal Pictures in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge page(s): 107
The Principal Pictures in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (1929) page(s): 129
Catalogue of Paintings in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Vol. I, Dutch and Flemish page(s): 80
The Dutch Connection: The Founding of the Fitzwilliam Museum page(s): 26-7
Treasured Possessions from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment page(s): 230, 264

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: 437
Primary reference Number: 1659
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 4 April 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

<div class="text-center"> <figure class="figure"> <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa30/437_201408_adn21_mas.jpg" alt="The daughters of Sir Matthew Decker, Bart." class="img-fluid" /> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The daughters of Sir Matthew Decker, Bart.</figcaption> </figure> </div>