REMBRANDT VAN RIJN Clement de Jonghe, Printseller.
Etching and drypoint, 1651. 208x161 mm; 8 1/4x6 1/4 inches, thread margins. Biörklund's sixth state (of 6); Usticke's fifth state (of 9); White and Boon's sixth state (of 6); New Hollstein's sixth state (of 10), before the extensive reworking. A very good, dark and well-inked impression, with strong contrasts, and little to no sign of wear.
Clement de Jonghe (1624/25-1677) was among the most significant Amsterdam print and map dealers and publishers during the mid-17th century and would certainly have been associated with Rembrandt (1606-1669), though there is no indication, through letters or in the inventory drawn up after Clement de Jonghe's death, that this was a commissioned portrait from Rembrandt. De Jonghe's business prospered from at least around 1647 to 1679, run posthumously for several years following his death by his widow Jacomijntje Jacobs, until his stock was sold at auction. De Jonghe acquired at least 74 of Rembrandt's original etched copper plates, probably during Rembrandt's lifetime, and these were all sold in the contents of his estate auction. Bartsch 272; Biörklund 51-C; Hollstein (White and Boon) 272; New Hollstein 264.
