Henricus Maria Weerts

Both canvases have firm relinings, clear and even varnishes, and no major damages visible to the naked eye. Inspection under ultra violet light reveals only few scattered retouchings and some strengthenings in the darker tones, and that the varnish has been unevenly cleaned, leaving some areas that fluoresce opaque. The fruit remains relatively untouched, only some localised retouchings in the orange. In fair overall condition. Offered in matching simple carved and gilt wood frames in good condition.
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This pair of still lifes are copies after works by Cornelis de Heem, with a slight variation in that their author has replaced de Heem's blue ribbons with pieces of string. The de Heem originals were in the collection of P. Fatio in Rome in 1928, but were apparently separated later, with one sold London, Christie’s, 8th December 1989, lot 8.
We would like to thank Fred G. Meijer for proposing the attribution to Henricus Maria Weerts.  He confirms the similarities in the handling with a still life by the artist in the collection of the Ashmolean, Oxford.¹ Meijer also notes that van Weerts copied several pieces of fruit from one of the present paintings (the one with the open peach) into a festoon that he signed, now in the Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie, Dessau (inv. no. 1488).
1. See F. G. Meijer, The Collection of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Paintings Bequeathed by Daisy Linda Ward, Zwolle 2003, p. 324.