Jan Davidsz. De Heem

Possibly Elisabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart and John Maitland, 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, Ham House, London, by 1683;
Thence by descent until 1948;
Possibly with Ronald Lee, London, 1953 (perhaps sold by Lee as the agent for Sir Lyonel Tollemache 4th Bt. (1854-1962));
With P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1963;
From whom acquired by the parents of the present owners.

Amsterdam, Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Wintertentoonstelling 1963-1964, 1963-Febrary 15, 1964, no. 13.

Wintertentoonstelling 1963-1964, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam 1963-4, cat. no 13, reproduced; 
I. Bergström, "Another Look at de Heem's Early Dutch Period", in Hoogsteder Mercury, 1988, pp. 44-46, reproduced, figs. 12, 49.

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 painting has an old English lining. The paint layer is clean, varnished and retouched. The retouches are quite light, although they are focused in the upper background particularly on the left side and there is a horizontal restoration running from right to left through the grape leaves and across the upper center of the background. The main issue with the picture which has mostly not been retouched is the quite visible abrasion to the paint which needs to be addressed. If the restoration were to be accurate and sensitive, this abrasion could be greatly diminished and a more cohesive image would be presented.
"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."

The present still life was executed during de Heem's early career, a moment when he is influenced by Pieter Claesz and Jan Jansz den Uyl, but seems to have begun a transition away from his earliest influence in Leiden, Balthasar van der Ast. Here, de Heem employs a palette largely restricted to cool monochrome colors. The simplicity of color is echoed by the seemingly simple arrangment of objects, presented here to the viewer on a draped table. Like so many of his early still-lifes though, the placement of objects displayed is deceptive. The overturned pewter tankard begins a strong horizontal arrangment, completed by the plate of oysters which is placed just off the edge of the table.

De Heem is perhaps best known today for his innovative pronkstillevens or banquet still lifes, executed mostly in his maturity, with their tables heaped with exotic food, silver, sea shells, and other luxury objects. Yet at the same time he never abandoned painting smaller works such as the present work, which though simpler, convey a remarkable sense of the beauty and phsyical presence of the objects depicted.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD) for confirming the attribution to de Heem's early period, based on photographs. He plans to include the painting in his monograph on the artist.