The Silver Birch Master

With Thomas Agnew & Sons., London.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Replica Shoes 's. The canvas has been lined. There is a loss of tension and resulting deformation of the picture plane. The paint layer is stable. There is visible discoloured restoration to the sky, upper right, which is indiscriminate and excessive. Further retouchings can be seen to the shepherd and the animals where the paint has been compromised. The loss of definition to the foliage of the trees, in particular, could be partly remedied by the removal of the degraded and discoloured varnish, and the re-saturation of the picture surface. Much of the paint is in a good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Replica Shoes 's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Replica Shoes 's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Replica Shoes 's or the Seller."

The anonymous Silver Birch Master was identified by Anthony Blunt in 1950¹ as the painter responsible for a group of works depicting rocky, Italianate landscapes, characterised by trees with a silvery bark and feathery foliage. This group of works was subsequently attributed to the young Gaspard Dughet by Shearman in 1963² while Whitfield, in 1979,³ attributed the works to the very young Nicolas Poussin. The identification of the painter of this group of works thus remains unresolved.

1. A. Blunt, "Poussin Studies, V: The Silver Birch Master", in Burlington Magazine, vol. cxii, no. 564, March 1950, pp. 69-73.
2. A. Blunt & J. Shearman, The Drawings of Nicolas Poussin. The Landscape Drawings, vol. IV, London 1963, p. 33ff.
3. C. Whitfield, "Poussin's Early Landscapes", in Burlington Magazine, vol. cxxi, no. 910, January 1979, pp. 10-19.