Archivalia betreffende Frans Hals en de zijnen

The first deed discussed here, dating from 6 November 1656, shows that there was co-operation between Frans Hals and Willem Pietersz. Buytewech in the case of two portraits representing the grandparents of the Haarlem painters Nicolaes and Jan (de) Kemp. An auction list of 17 November 1631 of the works of art in the possession of Hendrick Willems. den Abt, landlord of one of the well-known inns of Haarlem, mentions a "peekelharing" (salt herring) by Frans Hals. If this refers to the toper engraved by Jonas Suyderhoef after Hals and called "Monsieur Peeckelhaering" (see the illustration), the above date is to be considered as the terminus ante quem for the origination of Hals' portraits based on this toper in the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Cassel, and in the former Jules Porgès collection, Paris (shown as No. 65 at the Frans Hals exhibition at Haarlem in 1937). The subsequent deeds from 1651 deal with moneys due to Frans Hals and his wife, viz, the wages of their son Antony Hals who embarked in 1646 and died abroad. The statement by Pieter Gerritsz. van Roestraten, their future son-in-law, to the effect that he had been working at the house of Frans Hals and his wife for five years is noteworthy. This painter was baptized at Haarlem on 21 April 1630. A document is also reprinted here testifying that in 1626 Lysbeth Reyniers, Hals' wife, became the victim of outrageous quackery.