French or Dutch School, 17th century

With David Koetser, Zurich;

From whom acquired by the present collector.

This enigmatic seventeenth-century still life is indistinctly signed or inscribed “...de Purmer…”, possibly referencing the so-named polder, or reclaimed lake, in North Holland near Amsterdam. The construction of windmills as part of a land reclamation project in 1618 transformed Purmer into a fertile tract of land, ripe for agricultural development. As such, this painting may serve to commemorate a particularly bountiful harvest season for medlars, the distinctive orange fruit prominently displayed in this composition.