Rafael Valls Limited

Rafael Valls Limited Fine Art Gallery

Ahead of the summer holidays I would like to shine a spotlight on an incredibly rare and talented artist who worked far ...
31/07/2026

Ahead of the summer holidays I would like to shine a spotlight on an incredibly rare and talented artist who worked far from home in the Mediterranean sunshine.

‘The Messinese Poussin’
ABRAHAM CASEMBROOT
(Bruges c. 1593 - c. 1658 Messina)

Abraham Casembroot (or Casembrot) was born in Bruges, but spent most of his working life in Messina on the east coast of Sicily. This vivacious little painting on copper is one of only four autograph paintings known. Dated 1646 it is also his last.

It is always a pleasure to stumble across an artist whom you are not familiar with, especially when they possess such superlative skill and originality, and to present their talent to the world.

Please note that the gallery will be closed over August and will reopen on Tuesday 1st September.

ABRAHAM CASEMBROOT
Bruges circa 1593 - circa 1658 Messina
A View of an Italian Harbour with Shipping and a Fountain

oil on copper
18.4 x 23.2 cm (7.25 x 9 in.)
Signed and dated lower right: ‘ABRAAM CASEMBROOT / IN ET P Ao 1646’

For sale at Rafael Valls Ltd

During Old Masters week we are showing off this fabulous portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA. The sitter is Harriet Ker...
30/06/2026



During Old Masters week we are showing off this fabulous portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA.

The sitter is Harriet Ker-Seymer (1779 - 1853) who was around 27 years old when this portrait was painted. Harriet was a talented artist in her own right and became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence in 1797. Though only a few works by her are recorded she was clearly a talented artist who specialised in portrait miniatures, most notably of Lady Emma Hamilton in 1802 now in the Royal Museums, Greenwich (ID MNT0127). She also painted a portrait of her brother William Horace Beckford, 3rd Lord Pitt Rivers after a drawing by Richard Cosway now with The Limner Company, London.

This portrait was evidently already a work in progress before 14 February 1806 when a balance of 18 pounds and 8 shillings of the price of 35 guineas was noted as being outstanding in Lawrence’s ledger. It seems likely that the portrait played some part in Harriet’s match with Henry Seymer as they were married the next year in January 1807.

For sale at Rafael Valls Ltd, London

A Portrait of Mrs. Henry Ker-Seymour (or Seymer), Seated, Half-Length, in a White Dress, her left Arm resting on an Orange Mantle

Oil on Canvas

30 x 25 inches (76.2 x 63.5 cms)

Provenance: (Probably) Blakeslee sale; Mendelssohn Hall, New York, 6 April 1905;
ith Thomas Agnew & Sons, London;
rederick Sassoon (d. 1917);
By inheritance to the previous owner.

Literature: K. Garlick, ‘A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence’, Walpole Society, ###IX, 1964, p. 269.
K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, Oxford, 1989, p. 217, no. 453 (as whereabouts unknown).

Exhibited: New York, The Jewish Museum, The Sassoons, 3 March - 13 August 2023.

In one of Frans Francken’s most iconic images Death plays his violin mocking the protestations of a wealthy old man. The...
08/05/2026

In one of Frans Francken’s most iconic images Death plays his violin mocking the protestations of a wealthy old man. The subject of the piece is darkly amusing which is perhaps the reason for its popularity. Instead of remaining dignified and joining death willingly after a long and apparently affluent life, the old man shrinks away from Death and points meekly to his gouty leg propped on a stool as if to beg leave to remain. Teasingly, Death lifts his leg also and props it on an hourglass which has run out of sand... ☠️🎻

Dr. Ursula Härting lists nine autograph versions of this vanitas image, also known as ‘Death and the Merchant’ or ‘Fiddling Death’. While most of these versions are painted on panel, a few notable examples are on copper, such as this picture and a version in the Wellcome Collection with identical dimensions to the present work (inv. 45044i).

FRANS FRANCKEN II
Antwerp 1581 - 1642 Antwerp
Death playing the Violin
Oil on Copper
9.06 x 6.7 inches (23 x 17 cm)

Available for sale

It is a very rare pleasure to see ‘Scrub’ by George Stubbs now at the National Gallery in their small (and free!) exhibi...
29/04/2026

It is a very rare pleasure to see ‘Scrub’ by George Stubbs now at the National Gallery in their small (and free!) exhibition on the artist. Ot is a marvellous painting by Stubbs and his last life sized work still in private hands. The painting of Scrub was commissioned by the same patron as Whistlejacket - the Marquess of Rockingham - who, amazingly, decided not to purchase the painting. It remained with Stubbs until his death almost 40 years later.

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