Ontvangstbewijs aan Petrus Johannes Arendzen Possibly 1886

This is a receipt to Petrus Johannes Arendzen for two hundred Dutch guilders from Frans Buffa en Zonen in Amsterdam, dated December 31, 1886, most likely penned with ink on paper. Frans Buffa en Zonen was a well-known art dealership and auction house in Amsterdam. The fact that someone like Arendzen purchased a “Portrait Rembrandt” from Buffa tells us something about the art market of the time. It suggests an interest in owning a piece connected to a Dutch Golden Age master, even if it was a reproduction or a work in the style of Rembrandt. The art market and its institutions, like Buffa’s gallery, played a crucial role in shaping artistic taste and demand. To understand the full story behind this receipt, one could research the archives of Frans Buffa en Zonen, sale catalogs, and period newspapers to determine exactly which "Portrait Rembrandt" was being acquired and by whom. This receipt isn’t just a record of a transaction; it's a window into the cultural and economic landscape of the late 19th-century art world.