JAN BRUEGHEL THE ELDER | Still life of roses and other flowers in a bowl and a vase, on a ledge

Private collection, France.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work on copper has been restored and should be hung as is. The copper plate is flat, the restoration is accurate and the work is well framed. There are remnants of old varnish visible under ultraviolet light around some of the edges and in the background above the basket of roses. The retouches are added here and there to address some thinness and small specks.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This small painting on copper, its scale exceptionally rare within Jan Brueghel the Elder's œuvre, combines motifs found in two other works, both datable to circa 1617, by the artist: the left half of the design, with the flowers on the table and in the bowl, repeats the composition in the Museo del Prado, Madrid;¹ the right half, with the blooms in the vase, is found in a painting most recently offered New York, Christie's, 6 June 2012, lot 92, in which it is placed beside a wreath.² In the dexterity and confidence of the handling on this miniature scale, the present work shares much in common with the tiny oval copper Still Life formerly in the Weldon Collection, New York, datable to circa 1610.³  Dr. Fred G. Meijer, to whom we are grateful for endorsing the attribution to Jan Brueghel the Elder, dates the present work to circa 1618, and suggests that it may have been produced as a gift for a patron or a friend. The existence of a larger, later version of the composition, most likely from the Brueghel Studio, however, suggests that either this painting itself, or at least the design, was retained in the vicinity of the studio for at least some years.⁴

1 See K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625). Kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, Lingen 2008-10, vol. III, p. 961, cat. no. 454, reproduced in color p. 962.
2 See Ertz 2008-10, vol. III, p. 973, cat. no. 459, reproduced in color p. 974.
3 See Ertz 2008-10, vol. III, p. 900, cat. no. 425, reproduced in color p. 901.
4 Formerly with Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris and Brussels.