Peter Binoit

From whom acquired for the Grasset Collection in 1975.

S. Thomas, A Feast for the Eyes, European Masterpieces from the Grasset Collection, exh. cat., Saint Petersburg, Florida 2019, pp. 34–35, 95–96, no. 11, reproduced in colour. 

Born in Cologne, Peter Binoit is one of the most important first-generation German painters of still lifes. He trained in Hanau, possibly under still-life painter Daniel Soreau sometime after 1600 alongside Sebastian Stoskopff and his master's twin sons, Peter and Isaac Soreau. He worked in Frankfurt in the 1620s, returning to Hanau in 1627, the year of his marriage to Daniel Soreau's niece, where he remained until his untimely death in 1632.

This painting, along with the Still life of lemons and pomegranates in a basket (lot 25), confirm Binoit's place as one of the leading still-life practitioners in the German-speaking lands. These charming examples, both painted on typical German beechwood panels, exemplify Binoit's decorative and appealing style, reflecting the unmistakable influence of both his German and Flemish contemporaries. Like the other still life offered here, the composition includes a silver-gilt tazza, overflowing with plums and apricots, possibly a nod to Hanau’s reputation as a leading centre of precious metal working. To the right is a large Chinese porcelain bowl, filled with a variety of fruits which a bird, possibly a sparrow, is resting upon, and in the foreground are carnations, a quail and a pewter dish with a sliced lemon, capers and olives.

A number of motifs, such as the Chinese porcelain bowl and pewter dish, are repeated in a variety of combinations in several of the artist's compositions. However, the quail in the centre of the work is seemingly unique within the artist's œuvre. This still life also appears to be the prototype for a group of works executed by the artist Francesco Codino. It has been suggested that the latter was a member of the Godin family, and had trained in the ateliers of (and may have been related to) both Daniel Soreau in Hanau and Pieter Binoit in Cologne, before emigrating to Italy around 1620.¹ Two versions of this composition by Codino are listed in Bott's monograph, the most similar to this picture, painted on a poplar support, only lacks the motif of the quail in the foreground.²

Although very few works by Binoit are either signed or dated, the similarities in style and handling between this work and the Still life of lemons and pomegranates in a basket to other detailed works by the artist, suggest a date of execution of about 1617.³

¹ G. Bott, Die Stillebenmaler Soreau, Binoit, Codino und Marrell in Hanau und Frankfurt 1600-1650, Hanau 2001, pp. 152–75. 

² Bott 2001, p. 221, nos WV.C.25 and WV.C.26. 

³ Meijer 2016, p. 21.