Clara Peeters

English private collection from circa 1940;
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Gentleman'), London, Sotheby's, 16 April 1997, lot 54, for £180,000, where purchased by Green;
With Richard Green, London;
From whom acquired by the present collector.

The support consists of a single panel, roughly bevelled on all four edges and with a convex bow. The paint surface is secure and clean under and even varnish. The details and pigments of the pink and white rose, the irises, the tulip, the lily and the carnations are in good condition and are well preserved, as is the mouse and the ear of corn. There are signs of abrasion in the darker pigments, most notably in the green foliage in the centre background, behind the flowers; in the vase; in the lowest left leaf; in the table edge and in the shadow of the vase back right. Inspection under UV light reveals some old retouching work scattered in the background and in the aforementioned areas of abrasion. The better preserved areas listed above are largely untouched. Offered in a stained wooded frame in good 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."

Although Clara Peeters is the first documented female still-life painter, almost nothing of her life or career is known. The dates of her extant works range from 1607 to 1621, and indicate from their awareness of the styles of contemporary painters that she may have worked in Flanders, possibly in or near Antwerp. Although Clara Peeters frequently introduced the motif of flowers into her still-life paintings, pure flower-pieces by her are rare, this being one of only eight examples known or published so far. This painting may be compared to another signed panel of identical dimensions depicting a simple bouquet of flowers within a very similar roemer and with a grasshopper.¹  A mouse similar to that found in the present painting recurs in a slightly larger panel of a Bouquet of flowers in a glass vase recorded by Decoteau in the Avery Collection in California, again signed with the same signature form.²  Decoteau includes both panels among a group of flower-paintings of similar design which she dates to 1612; the year in which, according to Bredius, the young Peeters was in Amsterdam, and which was to be of central importance to the development of her independent style. Although only two of these examples are dated, such is their stylistic homogeneity that Decoteau assigns the same probable date to each. Another from this group, a slightly larger Bouquet in a vase was sold London, Christie's, 9 July 2003, lot 60.³

 

1. P.H. Decoteau, Clara Peeters, Lingen 1992, p. 29, reproduced fig. 15.
2. Decoteau, op. cit., reproduced plate IV.
3. Panel, 42.2 by 29.8 cm.; ibid. p. 179, no. 10. A version is in an Italian private collection.