- 40
Pieter Claesz.
Description
- Pieter Claesz.
- A still life with an overturned pewter jug, a Roemer and a blue lined beer glass, surrounded by grapes and leaves, a pewter plate with a ham, a salt cellar, a roll and a sliced lemon on pewter plates with olives in a porcelain bowl
- oil on canvas
Provenance
Collection Vicktor Decock;
His sale, Paris, Charpentier, 12 May 1948, lot 62 (as by W.C. Heda);
Private Collection;
With Galerie Hurtebize, Cannes, by 2002;
Private Collection, Belgium.
Literature
Condition
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Formerly sold as a work by the Haarlem still life painter Willem Claesz. Heda, Fred G. Meijer and J. Nieuwstraten of the R.K.D., The Hague, were the first to recognise this work as an authentic work by Pieter Claesz. in 1984. As Dr. M. Brunner-Bulst suggests, Pieter Claesz. painted few works on canvas, usually large works, which may have been on commission. Stylistically it can be compared to works dated from the late 1640s, such as a work signed and dated 1650 at the Sarah Cambell Blaffer Foundation in Houston, Texas, and a work now in a private collection, sold, London, Christie's, 11 December 1987, lot 14.1
As is beautifully shown, Claesz. reveals how well he could paint different textures: the different types of glass with their reflections and clarity, the roughness of the salt, dried fat on the meat, the bread roll and the different shiny textures of the iron compared with pewter and silver. This combination of attention to texture and confident brushwork is typical of his later, more painterly, style. The abundance of different foods and the valuable silver, pewter and Chinese wares, suggest that it was painted on commission, reflecting a rich patron's social status.
1. See under Literature, p. 308, no. 180, reproduced p. 102, and p. 312, no. 183, reproduced p. 310.