Jan van Kessel the Elder

Count de Villalcazar de Sirga;
Thence by descent until sold, London, Philips, December 14, 1999, lot 78, for $1,030,620.

Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Maîtres flamands du dix-septième siècle du Prado et de collections privée espagnoles, May 7 - July 13, 1975, no. 21.

D.A. Ponz, Viage de Espana, en que se da notcia de las cosas mas apreciables, y dignas de saberse, que hey en ella, Madrid 1794, vol. XVIII, pp. 235-36;
Maîtres flamands du dix-septième siècle du Prado et de collections privée espagnoles, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 1975, pp. 97-98, no. 21, reproduced on p. 81 (as formerly in the Duc d'Aveyro collection and as signed and dated J.v. Kessel fecit año 1652);
M.-L. Hairs, Les Peintres flamands de Fleurs au XVIIe siècle, Brussels 1985, p. 296 (as signed J.v. Kessel fecit ano 1652).

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 panel is in beautiful condition. The copper is supported by a wooden framework on the reverse but does not appear to be glued to this framework. The paint layer is clean. There are very slight angulations to the copper and an old restoration in the lower left corner. Very little damage appears to have occurred to the panel itself. A visual appraisal of the condition reveals that there has been very little, if any, abrasion or paint loss, and the cleaning and restoration is of a very high level. Under ultraviolet light no restorations are immediately identifiable. This because the varnish used is deep in color and also because there may be only a very few retouches which have been applied. In the background there are a few restorations in the center left and a retouch in the above-mentioned damage in the lower left corner. Presumably there are other retouches elsewhere, although none of any significance and in all likelihood they will be focused in the background and hardly any, if at all, will be situated in the still life itself. Overall, the condition of this painting is excellent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This is one of a presumed series of ten large-scale flower paintings on copper painted in or around 1652, and probably commissioned by a Spanish patron, or ordered on behalf of one.  This one appears to be a pendant to a signed still life in the Heinz family collection of almost identical dimensions and painted on copper.  Another still life from this series, also from the de Sirga collection, was recently sold London, Sotheby's December 5, 2007, lot 24 for $912,829, and appears to be a pendant to another still life in the Heinz family collection.  Both of those are signed and dated 1652.¹  The remaining six flower pieces are in American and European private collections.  By chance, many of the paintings remain in pairs, but not necessarily those originally intended by the artist.  Seven of the ten coppers are signed and dated 1652.  The vessels for the flowers and the settings vary within the series, although some of them, including for example the present roemer resting on a carved stone plinth, occur in more than one painting.²


This series of ten flower pieces exceeds in scale and ambition anything else that Van Kessel ever attempted, suggesting that they were made as a set for an important patron.  Although it has been suggested that this Jan van Kessel is the one who worked in Spain for Philip IV, this was in fact his son, Jan van Kessel the Younger.  By the middle of the 17th century, however, many Antwerp artists were engaged in painting pictures for the Spanish market and copper panels of this size and shape were a common medium for such works, be they landscapes, genre pictures or as here still lifes, and it seems they were made to a standard size (of approximately these dimensions, and also double this size) in order to be securely packed for shipment together.  Van Kessel may have been introduced to Spanish patrons or their agents by Daniel Seghers (1590-1661), who received many commissions from Spain, probably in part due to his connections through the Jesuit order, of which he was a member.  Van Kessel's crisp handling and his palette and tonality owes much to Seghers' example.  The present work and its companion in the Heinz collection, in which flowers sit in a roemer on a plinth carved with simple ornament, may be compared with Seghers' pendants of circa 1630 for the Escorial, where they remain today.³

Jan van Kessel was a member of the Brueghel dynasty, being the grandson of Jan Breughel the Elder.  His godfather and first teacher was his uncle, Jan Breughel the Younger.  He registered in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1634/35 as a pupil of Simon de Vos.  At age eighteen he became a master, registering in the guild as a 'blomshilder' (flower-painter).  His dated works range from 1648 to 1676.  In 1647 he married Maria van Apshoven; the couple had thirteen children, of whom two, Ferdinand Leonard (1648-1696) and Jan van Kessel (1654-1708), became painters.  In 1655 he bought a house in Antwerp called 'De Witte en de Rode Roos' (The White and the Red Rose).  Notwithstanding his earlier success, he died in 1679 in relative financial hardship, having mortgaged his house to cover debts.  Van Kessel's subjects included animals (mostly birds, fish, and insects), still lifes of fruit, vegetables, precious metalware, game, flower pieces, wreaths and garlands, the latter frequently executed in collaboration with other artists.  He also specialized in painting allegories, such as the Senses, the Elements and the Parts of the World.  Finally he painted small-scale paintings on panel and copper in a miniaturist style that attests to a degree of detailed, empirical observation worthy of a natural scientist.


1 See I. Bergström, in Still Lifes of the Golden Age. Northern European Paintings from the Heinz Family Collection, exhibition catalogue, Washington 1989, pp. 112-14, nos. 21 and 22, reproduced; and M.E. Wieseman, in P.C. Sutton ed., The Age of Rubens, exhibition catalogue, Boston 1993, p. 513, nos. 100 and 101, reproduced pp. 514-15.

2  In for example the signed painting in the Heinz collection.

3  See Hairs, under Literature, reproduced pp. 140-41, plates 38 and 39.