Clara Peeters

H.B. Leipzig;
His sale, Berlin, Hecht, 27 February 1928, lot 118;
D.A. Hoogendijk, Amsterdam, 1932;
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 6 May 1996, lot 9, for £52,801;
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Private Collector'), London, Sotheby's, 24 April 2008, lot 31;
There purchased by the present owner.

P. Hibbs Decoteau, Clara Peeters, Lingen 1992, p. 181, reproduced p. 39, fig. 26 (as location unknown).

This panel is uncradled; it is stable and flat and has been beveled on all four sides. There is a small loss to the panel in the bottom right corner that is not distracting and mostly covered by the frame. To the naked eye, the paint layer is stable and in good state. Under UV, the varnish fluoresces slightly unevenly; however, what retouches there are remain clearly visible. These touches are concentrated along the panel edge where they appear to address old frame abrasion. The work is in good state and can be hung as is. In a black painted and carved frame.
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 three paintings by the artist depicting fish in ceramic colanders, all of which are of broadly the same dimensions. Of the other two, one is in the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., and the other is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp.¹ All three paintings are dated by Hibbs Decoteau to the 1620s. Of the three, the Washington painting is considered the earliest due to its similarites with Peeters' works of 1611-12, sharing a similarly high viewpoint to her paintings depicting various types of food of 1612 such as the Herring, Cherries and Artichoke.² The present work and the Antwerp painting share more in common with her work of the 1630s, being taken from a lower viewpoint, and compressing the objects so that they overlap.

Little is known of Peeters' training due to a scarcity of documentary evidence. Her earliest dated work is from 1608 and the last record of her is from 1657. It is surprising perhaps, given her evident mastery of the genre of still life painting, that her name does not feature in the records of the Antwerp guild, which had already started to admit women by 1602.

1. See Hibbs Decoteau, under Literature, pp. 128-9, fig. 25, & pp. 130-1, fig. 27, respectively.
2. ibid, p. 180, fig. 17, reproduced pp. 30-31.