Nicola van Houbraken Messina circa 1660 - 1723 Tuscany

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, April 21, 2005, lot 68, there purchased by the present collector.

At the time of the 2005 sale (see Provenance below), Dott. Mario Goli Sassoli endorsed the attribution to Van Houbraken on the basis of a color transparency.  He pointed out that this painting's similarity in composition to a painting by Van Houbraken (130 by 172 cm.) in the Museo Civico, Livorno.  Although the composition here is fuller and enlarged, the paintings share a number of common elements; the red-leaved potted plant, lilies, and cardoons among them.  A parrot in the Livorno painting has here been substituted with a wine glass and bread roll on a plate, and Van Houbraken has also added other still life elements such as the rose plant center right, the dog and the basket of apples.