Willem Claesz. Heda

Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller, 14 May 1912, lot 122;
Frans Smulders;
His sale, The Hague, Gallerie Royale, 9 November 1937, lot 2;
Where bought by the father of the present owner.

Niigata, Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, 7 October - 30 November 2003; Toyohashi, City Museum of Art and History, 6 December 2003 - 18 January 2004; Sakura, Sakura City Museum of Art, 24 January 2004 - 7 March 2004, Dutch art in the age of Frans Hals from the collection of the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, cat. no. 55;
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, 27 November 2004 - 3 April 2005; Zurich, Kunsthaus, 21 April - 21 August 2005; Washington, National Gallery of Art, 18 September - 31 December 2005, Pieter Claesz.: Meester van het stilleven in de Gouden Eeuw;
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, from 1998 until 2008, lent by the present owner.

 

 

The catalogue illustration is representative, although the green of the roemer is deeper in tone and the dark-light effects are slightly stronger in the actual painting. The original panel is laid unto another panel, which has been cradled, and seems to exist of two horizontal planks, the joint is slightly visible to the front. Some minor spots of discoloured retouchings are visible in the background and in the top part of the roemer and along the join. No damages are visible to the naked eye, only a few pinpoint paint losses in the upper left. The paint layer is secure and in good condition, although slightly abraded in some areas, e.g. the stand of the facon-de-venise, the lower part of the roemer and in the table top between the objects. The paint surface is under a slightly discoloured varnish layer. Inspection under UV-light confirms the abovementioned retouchings and reveals additional small spots in the background and in the area around the roemer, along the joint and scattered spots throughout the stone table. Offered in a plain light-brown wood frame, in good condition. (JD)
"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.
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This painting, dated 1630, is an exquisite example of Heda's early refined banquet pieces (ontbijtjes). Heda is thought to have painted these relatively simple compositions only from 1629 onwards¹. This panel has all the characteristics of the 'Monochrome Banketje', which dominated the genre of still life painting in the early to mid 17th Century and of which Heda, along with Pieter Claesz. (1597/8-1660/1), became the foremost exponent.

Restrained in composition, subdued in palette and withdrawn in mood, this painting is typical of Heda's work in the 1630s. A variant of this composition, also dated 1630, but excluding the loaf of bread and replacing the hazelnuts with a walnut, was with Noortman, Maastricht, by 1993. Numerous elements, in particular the roemer, decorated with droplets, and the façon de Venise glass, appear repeatedly in Heda's still lifes, such as the work of 1634 in Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (inv. no. 1286). 
The present work is marked by the presence of the extraordinarily detailed gold pocket-watch. Precious objects such as this are an example of Heda's interest in examining the effects of light on a variety of different surfaces and which became the hallmark of his personal style.² The light is breaking in on the roemer, clearly revealing the contours of Heda's studio window, but is also reflected in the façon de Venise glass and in the lid of the watch, which in turn is beautifully reflected in the silver platter. Even the inlaid mother of pearl in the checkered blade of the knife, is subtly and gently touched by the light. 

This is one of Heda's earliest 'Monochrome Banketjes', and its design is thus relatively simple. He would continue the monochromatic theme in his work of the 1640s onwards, but the extreme serenity and the modest composition of the works such as this would soon make way for a far richer and more luxurious approach, reaching a high point in the 1660s (see lot 43).  

1. The earliest dated monochrome breakfast-piece is from 1629 and is in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, inv. no. 596; see H.R. Hoetink (ed.), The Royal Picture Gallery. Mauritshuis, New York/The Hague 1985, pp. 198-99, no. 40, reproduced.
2. For further characterisation and development of Heda's personal style see N.R.A. Vroom, A Modest Message as Intimated by the Painters of the 'Monochrome Banketje', vol. I, pp. 53-78.  The pocket-watch is a dominant element in a few other works from this period. See for example the work with Noortman, mentioned above, one in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, inv. no. 596, dated 1629, one in the Staatliches Museum, Dresden, inv. no. 1371, dated 1631, and one in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, inv. no. 2756, dated 1632.