RQ-01 · Resolved
Does this impression carry the signature “Rembrandt f. 1638”?
Why it matters
The working record described the sheet as “without signature”, which reads oddly against a plate that is signed and dated in the plate from its first state. Establishing what the phrase refers to matters because it is one of the two grounds the auction house gave for its state determination.
What the record currently holds
The phrase comes from the catalogue entry, where it describes the state rather than the sheet: “New Hollstein 170, state III (of IV, without signature, diagonal scratch in plate at upper left only slightly visible).” The plate is signed from state I and the signature is redrawn in state IV. In the catalogue's reproductions it is legible in states I and IV and not clearly legible in either II or III — so an impression showing no signature is narrowed to state II or state III, and no further.
- 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
Hypotheses
The signature is present and the working record's phrase was copied from a description of a different lot.
RejectedRejected 12 August 2026. The phrase came from this lot's own catalogue entry and describes the state correctly.
The signature is physically present but lost to the trimming at the left margin.
RejectedRejected. The signature sits at the upper left of the image, not in the margin, and the image area is intact.
The signature had worn away or been burnished out by the third state.
Strongly supportedSupported by the catalogue's definition of state IV as the signature being redrawn, and by its reproduction of state III showing none.
Method
- 01Photograph the recto and look. This is the whole method.
- 02If the signature area is damaged or ambiguous, examine under magnification and raking light.
- 03Compare the position of the signature against a high-resolution institutional impression before concluding that trimming removed it.
What would resolve it
Resolved by the catalogue entry and its reproductions, together with the auction house's photograph of the sheet.