Jacobus Linthorst

With Knoedler Gallery, London, before 1948;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 7 July 1976, lot 67;
With Frost & Reed, London;
With Christopher Wade, London, by 1979;
With Richard Green, London;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 24 May 1984, lot 3;
There purchased by the present collectors.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has not been restored for some time and while it is in very good condition and the old lining is still useful, the paint layer is dirty and will respond to cleaning. During cleaning however, while the actual still life of flowers and fruit seem to be in very healthy state with only slight abrasion visible to some of the red glazes in the pink roses on the left, there are probably broader restorations in the background. The likelihood is that these restorations, particularly those in the upper right, address some pentimenti of previous floral elements in the still life which the artist himself painted over. This may also be the case in the center of the left side. Nonetheless, cleaning the painting is recommended even though some retouches will be required.
"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."

While little is known of Linthorst's artistic training, his bright palette and opulent compositions clearly reflect the influence of Jan van Huysum (1682-1749) and his contemporary Jan van Os (1744-1808).  Linthorst appears to have spent his entire life in his native Amsterdam and is recorded there as a member of the Guild of Saint Luke from 1789.  He was the teacher of the still life painter Jan Evert Morel (1769-1808).

This particularly grand still life is comparable in quality with the pair of floral still lifes in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, considered to be among his finest works.¹ Here the artist has combined a dazzling array of flowers and fruit, tightly packed together in overlapping profusion.  A dreamy, waterfall landscape appears at right in the distant background, a device also used to great effect by van Os.  Adding a stroke of trompe l'oeil bravura, Linthorst has signed his name so that it appears carved into the base of the stone platform, with a leaf hanging over the edge and partially covering the first two numbers of the date.  It appears that the artist may have changed his mind on the placement of his signature and the remains of another can be seen just to the left of the final one.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague for confirming the attribution, based on an image.

1. Inv. nos. PD.32-1966 and PD.33-1966, one dated 1799, both oil on panel, 71 by 55.3 cm.