Edwaert Collier Breda active before 1663 - 1708 Leiden (?)

D.C.E. Erskine collection, Linlathen, Forfarshire;
His deceased sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 December 1922, lot 35 (as 'English School'), where sold with a pendant;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 3 November 1926, lot 58 (as 'E. Collier'), to Barker, where sold with a pendant;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 2000, lot 128, for $145,500.

The canvas has been recently relined and is sound. The painting has been recently cleaned, restored and re-varnished. The paint surface is very well preserved overall. There are a few areas of localised restorations, for example to the top of the left hand page of the atlas there is a small cluster of restored losses and abrasions; likewise there are further affected areas to the background to the left of the globe and to the upper left background. Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals further minor retouchings and restorations, for example throughout the grey drape over the table. The surface is however in very good condition overall and requires little, if any, attention. The varnish layer is clear and evenly applied. Sold with a decorative ebonised wood frame, in excellent condition. AF*
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Executed in 1694, the year after his arrival in London, this meticulous still life is one of the finest the artist produced. The chronology of Collier's peripatetic life is not entirely clear, but he left for England on 2nd May 1693 and probably remained there until 1707 when a still life, his last, is signed and dated (on a portrait of Charles I) E. Collier Fecit./ London 1707.¹  However, it seems he returned often to Leiden, where he had lived from 1667 to 1693, and is recorded there in 1700 and in 1706. He probably trained in Haarlem as his earliest still lifes, from the 1650s, manifest the influence of Pieter Claesz. and, in particular, Vincent Laurensz. van der Vinne; indeed he inscribed the name V. Laurens on what is probably his first vanitas still life, painted in 1656.² 

Collier was clearly a colourful character and was married three times in the space of eleven years between 1670 and 1681.  His colourful personal life renders his sombre obsession with the vanitas still life, which he painted almost exclusively throughout his career, all the more fascinating. In his Self-portrait with a vanitas still life³ of 1684, then into his third marriage, he portrays himself as a younger man standing before a table laden with a violin with a broken string and a skull. He may have painted this work as a pictoral lesson for himself, to remind him of his former folly in relation to the transience of life and the finality of death.

1  Sold New York, Sotheby's, 23 January 2003, lot 207.
2  Formerly Galerie Kleinberger, Paris.
3  Sold in these Rooms, 8 December 2005, lot 124.