Old Masters Day Sale, including portrait miniatures from the collection of the late Dr Erika Pohl-Ströher
Old Masters Day Sale, including portrait miniatures from the collection of the late Dr Erika Pohl-Ströher
The Property of a Gentleman
Willem Claesz. Heda
Still life with a glass roemer, façon-de-venise wineglass, silver cup, half-cut ham and bread roll with pewter plates, all on a draped table
Lot Closed
December 9, 02:45 PM GMT
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
The Property of a Gentleman
Willem Claesz. Heda
Haarlem circa 1596 - 1680
Still life with a glass roemer, façon-de-venise wineglass, silver cup, half-cut ham and bread roll with pewter plates, all on a draped table
signed and dated lower right: .HEDA. 1647
oil on oak panel
unframed: 58.3 x 67.8 cm.; 23 x 26¾ in.
framed: 76.2 x 86.9 cm.; 30 x 34¼ in.
Thence by inheritance to Sophie Strumphler-van Riemsdijk (1903–1993), Aerdenhout;
By whom posthumously sold, Amsterdam, Christie's, 10 November 1992, lot 60;
Private collection, Europe;
Anonymous sale, Vienna, Dorotheum, 21 April 2015, lot 45, where acquired.
Along with Pieter Claesz., Willem Claesz. Heda was the foremost exponent of the so-called 'monochromen banketjes' - carefully designed still life arrangements depicted in a very limited palette, which focus the viewer's attention on the tonal relationships between objects and the effect of a directed light source on the variety of their surfaces. The present work exemplifies the subject, which enjoyed immense popularity during the 17th century, and has endured as one of the most distinctive genres of the Dutch Golden Age. It includes Heda's most favoured motifs, such as the large glass roemer, wineglass, and silver and pewter vessels, all of which afford the opportunity for the depiction of reflections and the defraction of light. The half-eaten items of food serve as both mirrors of everyday life and as metaphorical symbols of vanitas and the brevity of life.