Self-Portrait in a Velvet Cap with Plume

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669)

The composition is securely Rembrandt's: the catalogue raisonné entry for no. 170 is in hand. What that does not settle is who did the work visible in this particular impression — see the state claim below, where the catalogue is explicit that the third state is not Rembrandt's work.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05
• 2Primary documentBonhams payment receipt, 17 May 2023, transaction 1246701, sale 28358 lot 182 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05-17on request

What would change thisAn examination by a specialist in Old Master prints concluding that the sheet is a later restrike from Rembrandt's plate, a reproduction after the composition, or a copy by another hand. Any of these would keep the composition and change the object.

CL-ARTISTStated by Bonhams, as cataloguer, citing New Hollstein 170Added 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Self-Portrait in a Velvet Cap with Plume

The title used by the catalogue raisonné, and by the Rijksmuseum, the Met, the National Gallery of Art and the Art Institute. The census still records each institution's own wording verbatim.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request

CL-TITLEStated by New Hollstein 170Added 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

1638

New Hollstein dates the plate 1638 and records it signed and dated in the plate, upper left: Rembrandt f 1638. This is the date Rembrandt worked the copper. It is not the date this sheet was printed, and the two are now known to be far apart.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request

CL-DATEStated by New Hollstein 170Added 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Unknown. Later than Rembrandt's lifetime only if the state III attribution holds

No date is asserted. The catalogue establishes that the work visible in state III is not Rembrandt's, so an impression in that state was pulled after the plate had been reworked — but it does not establish that this sheet is in state III, and a conditional does not become a date. The copper plate's own descent, which is documented, bounds where a later impression could have been printed; that is on the provenance timeline.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05
• 1Physical observationNo conservator examination has taken place · 2026-08-12

What would change thisA specialist's state determination. If state II, the sheet is from the plate as Rembrandt left it. If state III, it is a later pull from a reworked plate.

CL-PRINTING-DATEAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Bartsch 20

Confirmed against the catalogue's own concordance, which gives B. 20 alongside G. 25, M. 134, H. 156, Mz. 22, BB. 38-B and W-B. 20.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05

CL-CATREF-BARTSCHAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

New Hollstein 170

Verified against the catalogue entry itself, which the project now holds in photographic form.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05

CL-CATREF-NHAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Drypoint etching, on laid paper

New Hollstein calls the plate an etching; the auction cataloguer calls this sheet a drypoint etching; the Rijksmuseum records its impressions as etching and drypoint. All three can be true of the same plate. Whether burr survives in this particular impression is untested, and in a late state it is unlikely.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05

What would change thisExamination under magnification of this impression, to establish whether any drypoint burr survives in it — which is a different question from whether the plate carries drypoint work.

CL-MEDIUMStated by New Hollstein 170; Bonhams, as cataloguerAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Laid paper

Recorded as laid paper by both the catalogue and the auction cataloguer. Transmitted light would confirm it directly and would also give chain-line spacing, which no source supplies.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05

What would change thisTransmitted-light examination showing chain and laid lines, which would confirm laid paper and give measurable chain-line spacing.

CL-SUPPORTAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Not examined; the catalogue records no watermarks for this state

New Hollstein lists watermark editions for states I and II — Strasbourg lily, Arms of Bristol, Arms of Ravensburg, Basel crosier, Basilisk, Foolscap and variants — and lists none at all for states III and IV. So even a clear watermark here would have nothing in the catalogue to be matched against, and would be new information rather than a confirmation.

• 1Physical observationNo conservator examination has taken place · 2026-08-12
• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request

What would change thisTransmitted-light imaging of the sheet.

CL-WATERMARKAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Catalogued by the auction house as New Hollstein 170, state III of IV; state II not excluded

The cataloguer's determination reads: “New Hollstein 170, state III (of IV, without signature, diagonal scratch in plate at upper left only slightly visible).” Two grounds are given and one of them does not discriminate: the catalogue's reproduction of state II does not show the signature clearly either, so an absent signature narrows the sheet to state II or III and no further. What remains is the scratch and the cataloguer's reading of the line-work, neither of which anyone else has checked. State II is the most numerous state of this plate and the only one White & Boon recognised; it has not been excluded. The record carries the house's determination, attributed to the house, at the confidence a single unreviewed reading supports.

• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05
• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueCondition-report photographs of the sheet, recto and verso, supplied by the auction house · Bonhams · 2023-05-03on request

What would change thisA specialist in Old Master prints examining the sheet against the catalogue's diagnostic features for states II and III — the cross-hatching at the base of the feather and along the brim of the cap, the curved lines on the forehead carried over the brim, the horizontal shading on the right ear.

CL-STATEStated by Bonhams, as cataloguer, citing New Hollstein 170Added 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Sheet approximately 137 × 104 mm; plate 134 × 103 mm

The apparent impossibility in the first version of this record — a trimmed sheet larger than the plate — was an artefact of comparing two different measurements. New Hollstein gives the plate as 13.4 × 10.3 cm. The auction cataloguer measured the sheet, at 137 × 104 mm. A sheet a few millimetres larger than the plate, trimmed hard on one edge and retaining a margin on the others, is exactly what the photographs show.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05

What would change thisRemeasurement under a conservation protocol, recording plate mark and sheet separately and noting which edges retain a plate mark.

CL-DIMENSIONSAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

No collector's mark, stamp or inscription visible on either side

The verso has now been seen. It is blank apart from a diagonal tideline and general handling marks — no stamp, no pencil annotation, no dealer's code, no mount or hinge remnant. That is a genuine negative finding and it closes the most likely route into the sheet's earlier ownership.

• 5Auction catalogueCondition-report photographs of the sheet, recto and verso, supplied by the auction house · Bonhams · 2023-05-03on request

What would change thisExamination under ultraviolet or raking light, which can reveal a faded stamp or an erased inscription that a hand-held photograph will not show.

CL-MARKSAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Trimmed at the left margin; wrinkling and dampstaining at lower left, extending partly into the image; unmounted at purchase

The catalogue's wording, verbatim: “Left margin roughly trimmed, some wrinkling, dampstaining to lower left corner, including part of image. Unmounted.” The photographs corroborate all four observations and add a diagonal tideline across the lower half of the sheet, visible from the verso. It remains a sale description rather than a conservator's report, and it will be superseded by one.

• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05
• 5Auction catalogueCondition-report photographs of the sheet, recto and verso, supplied by the auction house · Bonhams · 2023-05-03on request

What would change thisA condition report by a paper conservator, which would replace this summary field by field and add severity, extent and stability assessments this record cannot make.

CL-CONDITION-SUMMARYStated by Bonhams, as cataloguerAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Private collection, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Stated at city level by policy. Storage location, address, security arrangements and insurance values are not published and are not held in this database. See the security and privacy policy.

• 2Primary documentBonhams payment receipt, 17 May 2023, transaction 1246701, sale 28358 lot 182 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05-17on request

CL-CUSTODYStated by OwnerAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Private collection, Germany, consigned through a European antiquarian dealer; nothing documented before that

The auction house's specialist named the consignment route in correspondence but declined to identify the collection. How long the sheet was in Germany, and where it was before, remain unknown. The verso carries no collector's mark to work back from.

• 6Specialist opinionCorrespondence with Darren Sutherland, Senior Specialist, Fine Books and Manuscripts, Bonhams, 23 May 2023 · Darren Sutherland, Bonhams · 2023-05-23on request

What would change thisThe house or the dealer agreeing to name the collection, or a mark or document that places the sheet earlier.

CL-EARLIER-PROVENANCEStated by Darren Sutherland, Senior Specialist, BonhamsAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

Bonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023

Transcribed from the payment receipt and confirmed against the published lot page. The sale was online only; the department's specialists were Ian Ehling, Darren Sutherland and Tim Tezer. The consignor is not named in the catalogue and is not known to the project.

• 2Primary documentBonhams payment receipt, 17 May 2023, transaction 1246701, sale 28358 lot 182 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05-17on request
• 5Auction catalogueBonhams, Fine Books and Manuscripts, sale 28358, lot 182, New York, 24 April – 4 May 2023 · Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. · 2023-05

CL-ACQUISITIONStated by OwnerAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

CC0 1.0 Universal — no rights reserved over the descriptive metadata

Metadata is released without restriction so that it can be reused, aggregated and corrected by anyone. The written text of the site is CC BY 4.0.

• 2Primary documentRights and licensing policy of this project · The Plate Mark · 2026-08-12

CL-RIGHTS-METADATAStated by ProjectAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12

No image of this impression is published

The underlying work is in the public domain. Photographs of this sheet do exist — the auction house made two for a condition report in 2023 and the project holds them — but their copyright is the house's, not the owner's, and it has not been established. They are therefore not published, and can be shown to a scholar or institution on request. No documentary imaging to a photographic standard has been made.

• 5Auction catalogueCondition-report photographs of the sheet, recto and verso, supplied by the auction house · Bonhams · 2023-05-03on request
• 2Primary documentRights and licensing policy of this project · The Plate Mark · 2026-08-12

What would change thisWritten confirmation from the auction house that its condition photographs may be published with credit, or documentary imaging of the sheet.

CL-RIGHTS-IMAGESStated by ProjectAdded 2026-08-12Verified 2026-08-12