Pieter Claesz.

Victor Decock;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 12 May 1948, lot 36, where acquired by the grandmother of the present owner.

M. Brunner-Bulst, Pieter Claesz., Lingen 2004, p. 308, no. 179, reproduced.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is cradled. There is a repaired central vertical join , a vertical split to the right hand side , some minor splits to the top edge and a damage to the lower left corner. There is some visibly discoloured restoration o the background. In an area mid left the paint is raised and 'topped'. The paint in the still life is in good condition with crisp impasto and no abrasion. Overall, the painting is in good condition and its tonality would improve significantly with the removal of the discoloured varnish. 18/19thC gilt moulded frame-some chips."
"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 is a relatively late work by Pieter Claesz. In its intimate grouping of a small number of objects in a simple but monumental design, rendered in a restrained palette, it is typical of Claesz.'s mature work of the 1640s. As with many of these works, the composition is built horizontally around a simple circular rhythm, and vertically with two diagonals. The vessels and foodstuffs are of a sort which would have been familiar to Claesz.'s middle class patrons, and recur in many of his works from the previous two decades. The grouping of bread on a pewter dish, a blue and white bowl of olives and a peeled lemon is to be found in the foreground of many works from this period, such as the Still life with a tazza and pie of 1648 sold in these Rooms, 7 December 1994, lot 43. The dominant pewter jug on the right of the picture, sometimes known as a 'Frans Hals jug', is found in many of his paintings, but the motif of the roemer placed upon its spout is less common. It may be found, for example, in a much earlier work of 1632 in  a private collection,¹ a Still life  of 1641 in the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati,² and again in a mature work of 1645 sold in these Rooms, 5 July 2006, lot 35.

1. See M. Brunner, Pieter Claesz. Der Hauptmeister des Haarlemer Stillebens im 17. Jahrhundert, Lingen 2004, p. 235, cat. no. 53, reproduced.
2. Ibid., cat. no. 101, reproduced in colour p. 73.