Jan Frans van Dael

Thought to have been acquired by the grandmother of the present owner, probably in Paris, after the Second World War.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is evenly chamfered and of good quality with some minor worm damage and one 10cm split , upper right, to the paint surface. The paint surface is in good condition, aside from the obvious recent scratches and some minor blistering. The removal of the discoloured and degraded varnish would reveal a painting in good original condition."
"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."

Jan Frans van Dael was one of the leading members of the Flemish and Dutch community of still life painters in Paris at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries. His style was greatly influenced by his fellow still-life painters Pierre-Joseph Redouté and Gerard van Spaendonck, whose pupil he was. His paintings were much admired and he achieved a reputation as one of the most proficient of painters in this genre, exhibiting regularly at the Salon from 1793 until 1833.  The Empresses Josephine and Marie-Louise Bonaparte, and both Louis XVIII and Charles X were his patrons.  Le Mercure de France wrote of him in December 1795:

Van Spaendonck, vous vous êtes placé auprès de van Huysum et vous van Dael, à côté de Roepel. Ne vous fatiguez pas à nous donner de belles imitations de la belle nature, nous ne lassons pas de les admirer.¹

A very comparable composition, with a similarly laden basket of fruit, is in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, a version of which, dated An X  (1802) was sold New York, Christie's, 26 January 2001, lot 112.

We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer for confirming the attribution to Van Dael on the basis of photographs.

1. See M. & F. Faré, La vie silencieuse en France. La nature morte au XVIIIe siècle, Fribourg 1976, p. 312.