Master Paintings
Master Paintings
Property of a Distinguished Private Collector
Edwaert Collier
Vanitas still life with a violin, recorders, music manuscripts, and a globe
Lot Closed
October 21, 04:25 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property of a Distinguished Private Collector
Edwaert Collier
Breda 1642 - 1708 London
Vanitas still life with a violin, recorders, music manuscripts, and a globe
signed on musical part book lower center: E Collier
oil on canvas
canvas: 31⅝ by 24⅞ in.; 80.3 by 63.2
framed: 36 ⅞ by 31 ⅝ in.; 93.7 by 80.3 cm.
By whose Estate Family Trust given to the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society;
By whom sold, Hong Kong, Sotheby's, 3 October 2018, lot 4;
Where acquired by the present collector.
This vanitas still life, which includes an array of musical instruments, assorted manuscripts and printed volumes, and a globe, is typical of Collier's artistic output. Though Collier's career straddled Holland and England, where he spent the latter part of his life, his production of grand still lifes remained consistent throughout.
The open book bears a pair of Latin inscriptions. Though cropped, the left page offers a moralizing message: "vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas" ("vanity of vanities, all is vanity"). The right page reads: "muisca letitiae comes medicina dolorum" ("music is a companion in pleasure and a balm in sorrow"). The pair of epigrams at once warns against the futility of life while also suggesting that solace might be found in the pursuit of music, an edifying alternative to the accumulation of worldly goods.