ATTRIBUTED TO OSIAS BEERT AND STUDIO | STILL LIFE WITH OYSTERS AND OLIVES ON TIN PLATES, TOGETHER WITH A SILVER SPICE BOX, A NAUTILUS CUP AND A WAN-LI BOWL WITH SUGARED COOKIES

Dr. Fred G. Meijer has kindly confirmed the attribution on the basis of photographs, and we thank him for his help in cataloguing this lot.

This image of elegant dishes and other costly objects attractively arranged upon a steeply pitched tabletop is highly characteristic of Osias Beert's art. Although a pioneer in the early history of still life, Beert was long forgotten; his œuvre has only gradually been reconstructed in the later 20th Century. Born in Antwerp around 1580, Osias Beert was a leading figure in the first generation of Flemish still-life painters. In 1596 he became a pupil of the obscure Andris van Baseroo, and subsequently joined the Antwerp guild of St. Luke in 1602. It is likely that Beert did not become wealthy practicing his art, since his house was situated in a modest area of the city and he was also active as a cork merchant.

While Beert's œuvre now includes more than twenty signed paintings, there are no dated ones known, only some of his coppers are stamped with the mark of the metal worker Peeter Stas, and dated 1607, 1608 or 1609. The combination of oysters, regarded as luxurious delicacies, and sweetmeats appears frequently in Beert's art, surrounded by other objects of luxury such as the gilt cup and silver spice box. This spice box is probably of Spanish or Flemish origin, and the impressive nautilus cup is probably German.

According to Dr. Meijer there is (or was, it seems to have disappeared in WW II) another version of this composition in Warsaw (oil on panel, 54 x 80 cm; Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie) which was traditionally attributed to Osias Beert, but which is not entirely up to his quality of execution. Both our painting and the one from Warsaw have stronger and weaker areas. In his opinion it may well be that there was an entirely autograph version of this composition and that the present work and the Warsaw painting are studio versions, probably with some assistance of the master himself. Overall, the quality of our version seems better that of the Warsaw painting.

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Nous remercions le Dr. Fred G. Meijer d'avoir confirmé l'attribution de l'œuvre sur la base de photographies, et pour son aide dans la rédation de la notice. 

Ce tableau présente des plats raffinés et des objets précieux disposés sur un entablement incliné. La composition est caractéristique de la peinture d’Osias Beert. Longtemps oublié, il est de nouveau mis en valeur à la fin du XXe siècle. Né à Anvers vers 1580, Osias Beert est une figure importante de la première génération des peintres flamands de nature morte. En 1596 il devient l’élève d’un certain Andris van Baseroo puis rejoint la Guilde de Saint-Luc d’Anvers en 1602.

Une vingtaine de tableaux signés sont aujourd’hui répertoriés, mais aucun n’est daté. Seuls certains de ses cuivres portent la marque de son fabricant Peeter Stas et sont datés de 1607, 1608 et 1609. Dans ses compositions sont souvent représentées des huîtres et des confiseries, souvent accompagnées d’objets précieux comme cette coupe dorée et la boîte à épices en argent qui serait vraisemblablement d’origine espagnole ou flamande ; la coupe nautile est quant à elle probablement allemande.

D’après le Dr. Meijer, une autre version de cette composition existait à Varsovie (huile sur panneau, 54 x 80 cm ; Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie ; le tableau semble avoir disparu durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale) et il pourrait avoir existé une œuvre entièrement autographe. Notre version et celle de Varsovie seraient toutefois des versions d’atelier réalisées probablement avec l’assistance du maître lui-même. Dans l’ensemble, notre tableau semble de qualité supérieure à l’œuvre de Varsovie.