Attributed to Antonio Ponce

Both canvases have been relined and the images are a bit pressed. The darker pigments have sunken and there is some slight abrasion along the framing edges. In the Sill Life with Apples and Plums, there are two small chips to the painting surface in the lower portion. One is located in the lower left, just above the lower butterfly; the other is located in the bottom center, just to the righ of the fruit. There is also a white mark, about 1/2 inch large, located in the upper center, above the garland. In the Still Life with Melon, there are small, scattered chips to the paint surface concentrated in the bottom left quadrant of the image. There is also a small loss to the upper right corner. Under UV, both canvases are covered with an old, thick varnish that fluoresces unevenly and obscures the images underneath. There appear to be very few evident retouches in either canvas, although they could be masked by the varnish. Both canvases could be cleaned and the old varnish removed to present a fresher appearance. In matching glit frames with green velvet liners.
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In both their style and compositional motifs, the present pair of paintings demonstrate the strong influence of Juan van der Hamen, who had been Antonio Ponce's teacher in Madrid from 1624-1628. Ponce often directly quoted compositional motifs from his master's work, such as the use of stepped ledges to display his still-lifes, as seen in a painting offered Christie's, New York, 3 October 2001, lot 59. Ponce and van der Hamen's relationship was further strengthened in 1628 when Ponce married van der Hamen's niece, Francisca de Alfaro.