Langendijk genre scene watercolor

Langendijk, Jan Anthonie (Dutch, 1780-1818).
Market vendors selling ducks to a Gentleman.
Pen and brown ink with watercolor over black chalk on paper.
Signed and dated lower left: "J.A. Langendyk", "A. 1804"
5 1/4" x 6 1/2" sheet, 14 1/4" x 15 1/2" framed.
Jan Anthonie Langendijk was born into an artistic family, for his father was the well-known painter Dirk Langendijk. In his youth he accompanied the Vice-Admiral Hartsinck on an expedition to Santo Domingo and upon his return found success as a painter in the cities of Rotterdam, the Hague, Brussels and Amsterdam. His painting style is very like that of his father and as this particular watercolor shows, he possessed a fantastic facility to capture not only the physical form but also the inner personality of his subjects.
The scene depicts two female market vendors selling their produce to a gentleman. The peasantry was a popular subject matter in the Netherlands during the sixteenth, seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Scenes in which peasants play the major roles were famously exploited by Pieter Brueghel the Elder who drew and painted fairs, peasant weddings, dancing peasants often for a noble clientele fascinated with the lives of their lowly subjects.
However, Brueghel's works, in common with many other artists paintings of the same subject, not least of all Langendijk's, also reflected the moral codes of conduct underpinning Dutch society. Once depicted in religious paintings of the Roman Catholic Church, the predominantly Protestant Netherlands imbued secular works with similar meanings and this can be readily seen in Langendijk's watercolor.
In the Roman Catholic doctrine of good works, fish and meat figure as theological symbols standing for Lenten fare and lust of the flesh (voluptas carnis). Above all, poultry was considered to led to sexual arousal and unsurprisingly widows were advised not to eat it , thus preserving their chastity. The famous preacher Bernardino da Siena preached upon the matter, stating: "Widow, I want to say to you . . . do not do as you did when you had your husband - when you ate the flesh of small birds." In Holland, poultry was associated with the Dutch word vogelen ("to catch birds"), a colloquial expression meaning "to have sexual intercourse."
Thus, Langendijk's watercolor is more than just a picturesque market scene. It is loaded with sexual innuendo as the well-dressed gentleman grips the duck with his hands while leering at the buxom vendor in her fanciful hat. The implication is that the vendor is selling more than ducks!