Object Description
Antique Dutch oil painting of an ice skating scene by Culverhouse
Dutch, 1870
Canvas: Height 93cm, width 127cm
Frame: Height 118cm, width 154cm, depth 10cm
This atmospheric oil painting by Johann Mengels Culverhouse (1820–1895) captures a lively ice-skating scene under the winter night sky.
Painted in 1870, the composition is set in a Dutch town beside a frozen lake, where elegantly dressed figures glide across the ice. Born in Rotterdam, Culverhouse gained renown as a specialist in candlelight painting, developing a distinctive style that drew on the legacy of the Dutch Old Masters. His work often plays with contrasting light sources to heighten depth, mood, and drama.
Here, Culverhouse skilfully orchestrates two sources of illumination: to the right, a makeshift bar glows warmly from the light of a single tall candle, its glow falling across the faces of gathered figures and casting deep shadows on the canvas tent behind them. On the left, pale moonlight breaks through the cloudy sky, revealing distant skaters and shimmering across the icy lake surface. The reflections of both lights in the frozen water create a visual path that guides the viewer into the scene’s expansive depth.
The painting is set within a finely carved giltwood frame, its upper edge arched to give the impression of looking through a window onto the frosty tableau. Signed and dated lower left, ‘J.M. Culverhouse 1870,’ this is a technically refined and evocatively composed work. The reverse is marked ‘Property of G.L. Zabriskie’ for a previous owner.
A beautiful blend of narrative detail and painterly technique, the painting makes a striking addition to any collection of 19th-century or Northern European art.