Pieter Claesz.

With Leonard Koetser, London, 1965;
Mr. A.S. Nolst Trenité, Rotterdam, 1967;
David Koetser, 2006.

London, Leonard Koetser, 1965 Autumn Exhibition of Flemish Dutch and Italian Old Masters, 8 October - 30 November 1965, cat. no. 35;
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, Pieter Claesz: meester van het stilleven in de Gouden Eeuw, 27 November 2004 – 4 April 2005, cat. no. 8 (not shown in Washington; all the above as dated 1625).

London, Leonard Koetser, 1965 Autumn Exhibition of Flemish Dutch and Italian Old Masters, 8 October - 30 November 1965, p. 44, cat. no. 35, reproduced on p. 45;
O. ter Kuile, Seventeenth-century North Netherlandish Still Lifes, The Hague/Amsterdam 1985, p. 97, note 7;
M. Brunner-Bulst, Pieter Claesz: der Hauptmeister des Haarlemmer Stillebens im 17. Jahrhundert: kritischer Oeuvrekatalog, Lingen 2004, p. 24, 156-158, 167 and 213, cat. no. 16 , reproduced on p. 25;
Pieter Claesz: Meester van het Stilleven in de Gouden Eeuw, pp. 42, 44 and 116, cat. no. 8, reproduced twice (all of the above as dated 1625).

The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The various items displayed in this still life are very well preserved, including the skillfully depicted reflections in the gold watch and winding-key, the delicate glazes in the roll, highlights on the fish scales, and the miniscule writing on the paper cone. In the background, some wear is found and along the woodgrain. Generalized wear in the upper half of the glass may be related to past cleaning, however the form remains legible. Retouching, clearly visible under ultraviolet illumination, primarily addresses the wear in the background as well as isolated areas of normal age-related increased transparency. Two areas of compensation for loss are related to old repairs to the panel, described below. The oval-shaped panel, comprised of a single board of horizontally-grained wood, is stable and planar and retains its original beveled perimeter on the verso. Fragments of old gummed paper tape, adhesive residues, an exhibition label dating to 1965, and inscriptions in white chalk are found on the reverse. Two old cracks in the panel have been repaired at some point in the past: a brief one at the right edge near the middle, just below the brazier, and a split directly below the blue ribbon. Although a moderately large loss occurred along the split, it is conveniently located such that crucial details were not affected. The varnish is clear and adequately saturates the paints. This painting was recently restored and requires no further intervention.
"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."

This beautifully observed still life, dated either 1625 or 1626, is an early painting by Pieter Claesz., one of only a limited number of works from this youthful phase of his career. The painting’s precious character is enhanced by its oval format, rarely encountered in Claesz.’s works, as well as by the strategic placement of the framing elements of the composition, such as the bread roll, the brazier and the watch ribbon. This is the first known picture by Claesz. in which he used an oval format; only three other oval works are known, all painted in a later period, one in 1640 and two in 1641.¹ One of the examples from 1641, and the only other known of horizontal format, is comparable in composition and subject matter;  it shows a Still life with brazier, smoking utensils, a roemer and a plate with plover’s eggs.

Although the objects may seem casually arranged, they are, in fact, carefully placed to create a balanced and naturalistic impression. The vantage point is quite low, and the front edge of the table, cast in the shadow, is close to the picture plane, a technique by which Claesz. enhances the immediacy and realism of his still life.  This is further emphasized by illusionistic motifs like the blue ribbon of the watch hanging down over the stone ledge. All the objects are placed in a seemingly confined space, with strong warm light coming from the left; this overall illumination is guided to accentuate the objects' arrangement in the space provided. A sensitive interplay of light and shadow creates an all-enveloping atmosphere, binding everything together. The warm orange-brown tones of both the brazier with its smoldering, orange-white glowing embers and of the bread roll work remarkably well contrasted against the whites of the rolled up paper holding the tobacco for the pipes.  The beautifully rendered watch with its blue satin ribbon with a watch key at its end also presents a marvelous combination of color; the watch is depicted open, showing the viewer the delicate and intricate mechanism with its workings made of gold. The fishes depicted here are known in Dutch as “bokking,” a smoked variant of herring.  These were a popular food in the 17^th century as they could be preserved for a long time without refrigeration. It is interesting that the herring on the right at bottom was painted over at some point in the picture's history, and recent cleaning revealed its presence again. The brushwork of the Weldon still life is fluent and painterly, with areas of impasto beautifully preserved; see, for example, the sparkling highlights in the bread roll, the smoldering embers in the brazier, the reflective surface of the roemer and the white paper. The translucent qualities of the glass roemer and its contents are beautifully realized, as is the sheen on the metalware and gold part of the watch and the oval silver tobacco box in the background. The hazelnuts casually spread out over the table are a delightful little detail, breaking up the diagonals of the pictorial space.

Usually preferring rectangular formats, the artist frequently places a large glass goblet, such as the roemer here, to the side, which provides the dominant motif in such compositions, whilst the other components vary from one painting to another. In her monograph on Claesz., Dr. Brunner-Bulst compares the present picture to a round still life by Jan Olis of circa 1623 in a private collection in Amsterdam.²   However, Claesz.’s earliest banquet pieces from the first half of the 1620s— his first extant still life dates from 1621—reflect the influence of the first generation of Haarlem still life painters, such as Floris van Dijck (1574-1651), Nicolaes Gillisz (active 1615-1632) and Floris van Schooten (1585-1656). This intimate, small-format picture belongs to another group of the artist’s paintings from the mid-1620s, in which Claesz focused on combining two types of still life, the breakfast piece and the so-called Toebackje or smoking still life.  This is explained by Dr. Brunner-Bulst as the theme of smoking as a symbol of the transitory nature of life. ³  In these works one typically observes the usual ingredients of a Dutch 17^th century breakfast such as bread rolls, smoked herring, oysters, cheese, butter, and then combined with smokers requisites such as tobacco, braziers, long "Gouda" clay pipes, and kindling.

The early life of Claesz. is shrouded in mystery. He came from the town of Berchem near Antwerp and may have been Catholic. He probably received his first artistic education in the circle of Osias Beert the Elder (1570-1623) and Clara Peeters (1580-1621), whose style is reflected in his early work. He was perhaps briefly a member of Antwerp Guild of St. Luke, before leaving for the Northern Netherlands, and settling in Haarlem around 1620/21. For the rest of his life he remained in Haarlem, where he was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk on the first day of 1661.

1.  See under Literature, Brunner-Bulst 2004, pp. 258-260, cat. nos. 94, 96 and 97, all reproduced; two are in a American private collection, one is recorded in a French private collection.
2.  Ibid., p. 213, under cat. no. 16; for the still life by Olis, see exhibition catalogue Auckland, Auckland City Art Gallery, Still-life in the Age of Rembrandt, 1982-83, cat. no. 13, reproduced, also in color on p. 20.
3.  Ibid. pp. 156-158.