Pieter Faes

Mrs. F.F. Tower, London;

By whom sold, London, Christie's, 3 December 1926, lot 5;

There acquired by W. Sabin & Sons, London;

Alice Speed Stoll (1906-1996), Louisville, Kentucky;

By whom bequeathed to the Speed Art Museum, 1996 (inv. no. 1998.6.3);

By whom sold ("Property to Benefit the Acquisitions Fund of the Speed Art Museum"), New York, Sotheby's, 5 June 2002, lot 14;

Where acquired.

This refined and elegant still life abounds with coloristic and painterly finesse. Pieter Faes renders the variety of textures and tones with characteristic brilliance, elucidating his popularity with the most important patrons of his day, Maria Christina of Austria, Duchess of Teschen (and sister to Marie Antoinette), among them.

The present work was formerly in the collection of Alice Speed Stoll, grand-daughter of John Breckenridge Speed, founder of Louisville's Speed Art Museum, to which she bequeathed the painting in 1996.