Edwaert Collier

Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby’s, 14 November 1988, lot 207;

With Galerie Delvaille, Paris, by 1989;

From whom acquired.

Collier executed this work relatively early in his career when still working in his native Holland. The still life features an assortment of popular collectables: natural curiosities, musical instruments, a copy of Karel van Mander’s Schilder-boeck (On Painting), a musical score, and a timepiece. As such, the work both displays precious collectables and was a collectable itself.

A piece of paper tucked between the book’s leaves bears the Latin inscription, “vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas” (“vanity of vanities, all is vanity”). This moralizing message—that life is fleeting and consumed by vanity—is underscored by the violin’s broken string, unwound timepiece, and tropical shells, all associated with mortality.