Frans Ykens Antwerp 1601 - before 1693

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Frans Ykens
Still life with a meat pie on a pewter plate, a vase of flowers, an elaborate wine glass and a sliced lemon on a wooden ledge;Still life with grapes, an open pomegranate, peaches and a fig in a blue-and-white wan-li porcelain bowl, together with raspberries and partially peeled lemon on the partly-draped wooden ledge below
a pair, the former signed lower left: fRanchois ÿkens/ fecit
the latter signed lower left: fRanchois: ÿkens: fecit
both oil on copper

Provenance

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 July 1999, lot 3;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 22 January 2004, lot 53, where acquired by the present collector.

Condition

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Both copper panels are set into oak trays . The panels are in good condition, the paint layers are stable. The 'meat pie ' has some minor retouchings to the background and the draped ledge, lower right corner. The overall condition is good. The 'fruit in a bowl' has a slightly higher concentration of scattered retouchings to the background. The tonal quality on both would improve if the varnishes were removed."
"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."

Catalogue Note

This pair of paintings appear to date from the twelve year period the artist spent in France, specifically in Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles, where Ykens travelled having completed his apprenticeship in the studio of his uncle Osias Beert the Elder, and having become a master in Antwerp in 1630. All the known signed works from Ykens' French period are signed with either the the French spelling of his christian name François, as here, or with the Flemish spelling Franchoys . This means of signing distinguishes his French works from those executed after his return to the Spanish Netherlands where he would sign Francisco, the Spanish spelling of his christian name.