764 - Three faience tile pictures with allegories by Jan Aalmis the Younger

Three faience tile pictures with allegories by Jan Aalmis the Younger Mounted in modern wooden frames. Pictorial allegories of the elements, depicting figures in landscapes. The representations of Earth and Wind each comprise 28 tiles, while that of Fire comprises 21 tiles. Signed twice lower right: "J. Aalmis f." Frame height 97.5 cm; widths 46 and 59 cm. Rotterdam, Jan Aalmis, 1770s. Jan or Johannes Aalmis the Younger was born in Rotterdam in 1714, the son of his namesake. Like his father, he became a faience painter, obtaining his master’s title in 1735 and joining the Guild of St Luke. In 1755, together with his brother Johan Bartolomeus (1723-1786), he took over his father’s tile manufactory, De Bloempot. Jan Aalmis specialised in tile panels based on prints by Giuseppe Zocchi, Jacopo Amigoni and Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem, producing them both in cobalt blue and in the popular manganese monochrome technique. Four panels depicting the Seasons are held by the Couven Museum in Aachen. They were lent to the museum by Irene and Peter Ludwig in 1967 and donated to the City of Aachen in 1982. Further tile panels by Jan Aalmis are held by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (object no. BK-1955-387), and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. C.476-1923). The depiction of Earth is based on a print by Joseph Wagner (1706-1780). Provenance The Dessing & Dröge Collection.