A Gentleman with His Two Daughters

Painted on copper in 1664, this intimate family portrait exemplifies the conversation-piece format that Gonzales Coques pioneered in Antwerp during the mid-seventeenth century. The small copper support — favoured by Coques for its enamel-like surface — was well suited to the refined interiors and measured decorum his merchant and professional clientele expected. A gentleman shown with his two daughters placed domestic affection alongside social display: daughters' dress, deportment, and accomplishments signalled the family's standing as surely as any coat of arms. The Wallace Collection, which holds several Coques works, acquired this piece as part of its sweeping accumulation of Flemish cabinet pictures, where it sits among some of the finest examples of seventeenth-century intimate portraiture. Coques's compositions of this type typically position figures against neutral or gently lit interiors, allowing the sitters' costumes and gestures to carry the full weight of meaning.

The copper support gives the paint film exceptional translucency, allowing Coques to model flesh tones with subtle glazes that achieve a warmth impossible on rougher canvas. Costume textures — silk, lace, velvet — are differentiated through controlled impasto variation, while the overall surface retains the jewel-like clarity that made copper panels particularly prized by collectors.