Gerrit Willemsz. Heda Haarlem circa 1620 - before 1702, and Pieter de Ring Leiden circa 1615 - 1660

Menke collection;
Anonymous sale, Brussels, Le Roy, 1 June 1904, lot 31;
Baron Buschman, Vienna;
Private collection, USA;
With Richard Green, London, from whom acquired by the present owner.

N.R.A. Vroom, De Schilders van het Monochrome Banketje, Amsterdam 1945, no. 161;
N.R.A. Vroom, A Modest Message, Scheidam 1980, vol. II, p. 63, no. 310.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a fine bevelled oak panel in three pieces, with small supporting blocks behind the two joints. These may have been partially reglued at some time, and there is a narrow line of retouching along most of the lower joint, with older retouching at the left side at least of the upper one. The panel is beautifully flat and stable however, with no trace of raised or loose paint. There is older retouching also in the blue drapery, in the shadow under the central plate and at the lower right edge and corner. Recent retouching is minimal with little touches occasionally in the dark background and one line along an underlying diagonal from the earlier layer at upper centre right. Other minute touches are in the highlights of the plates with a few also in the overturned cup as well as various small touches in the blue drapery. This is quite thin in the highlights, although the blue glazes there had a white base over the underlying composition. The uniformly dark background is denser than the characteristic monochrome background must be underneath, and the impasto of the orange is quite exceptional. There appears to have been some reworking also of the rim of the overturned cup which may since have been partially removed in places. The original rummer on the left is in particularly beautiful condition as is the knife, the plates, and the nautilus cup, and overall the slightly contradictory elements have been finely preserved, apart from some thinness in the blue. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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."

Gerrit Willemsz. was both the son and pupil of Willem Claesz. Heda who, along with Pieter Claesz., was the foremost painter of the so-called monochrome breakfast-piece that was popularised during the 17th century, notably in Haarlem. Gerrit Willemsz. was an extremely talented pupil, so much so that his paintings have frequently been confused with those of his father.

This is an early work by the artist, painted when he was just twenty-six. As pointed out by Fred G. Meijer, to whom we are grateful, the fruit, tablecloth and dark background were painted by Pieter de Ring, some ten years after Heda completed the work in 1646, reflecting how quickly the monochrome still lifes of the 1630s and 1640s went out of fashion. The exquisite nautilus cup probably belonged to his father's studio as it appears in numerous other works by Gerrit Willemsz. and several by Willem Claesz.; it was common for artists to borrow such expensive objects from the local silversmith but the fact that the nautilus cup is confined to the work of both Hedas, and does not appear in the work of other Haarlem painters, would suggest that it was actually owned by Willem.