Gerret Willemsz. Heda, studio of
Still Life with a Leg of Lamb, a Peeled Lemon, two Glasses and Pewter Dishes on a Table
Oil on panel. 60 x 88 cm.
This piece was previously considered to be of Willem Claesz Heda's own hand. However, Fred Meijer (RKD, The Hague) considers the painting to be a workshop piece, but one to which the Haarlem artist probably contributed and which was carried out under his supervision. Stylistically, the piece can localised to the mid 1630s.
For over two centuries, the painting belonged to the collection of the noble Danish Reedtz-Thott family of Gavnø castle. This rococo palace is located on a small island south of the main island of Seeland and was built between 1755 and 1758 by appointment of the Danish minister Otto Count Thott (1703-1785) and is still inhabited by his descendants today. Their painting collection still encompasses around 1000 works and is considered to be the largest privately owned painting collection in Scandinavia. Following the death of Axel Reedtz-Thott, the present still life - then ascribed to Heda - was sold at auction in London in 1976 along with several other works from the Reedtz-Thott collection, including pieces by Antoine Watteau, Salomon van Ruysdael and Jacob van Ruisdael, and hence landed in an important German private collection.
Provenance
Probably the Otto Graf Thott collection (1703-1785), Gavnø castle. – The Reedtz-Thott collection, Gavnø castle. - Baron Axel Gustav Tage Rheedtz-Thott (1920-1973), Gavnø castle. - Auctioned by Christie’s, London, 2.7.1976, lot 20 (attr. to Willem Claesz. Heda). – Kunsthandlung Colnaghi, London. – Private collection, Germany.
Literature
Julius Henrik Lange: Baroniet Gauno's malerisamling, Naestved 1876, nr. 98 (attr. to Boolema) – Karl Madsen und Otoo Andrup: Fortegnelse over to Hundrede af Baroniet Gaunoes Malerier af aeldre Malere samt over dets Portraetsamling, Kopenhagen 1914, nr. 52 (attr. to Willem Claesz Heda”). - Karl Madsen: Malerisamlingen paa Gavnoe, in: Kunstmuseets Aarsskrift, IV, 1917, p. 66. - Gavno Inventory, 1943-46, nr. 52. - “Baron A.G.T. Reedtz-Thott, Gauno”, in: Kunst I Privat Eje, III, Kopenhagen 1945, p. 43, illus. 15. - Poul Gammelbo: Dutch still-life painting from the 16th to the 18th centuries in Danish collections, Kopenhagen 1960, p. 46, nr. 50 (as “Ascribed to Willem Claesz Heda”).
Exhibitions
Kunstforeningen i København, Kopenhagen 1891, nr. 70 - Stilleben pa Gauno, Gauno 1964, p. 21, illus. - Hollandske og Flamske stilleben fra 1600-tallet i Dansk eje, Kopenhagen 1965, p. 28, nr. 44, fig. p. 27 (attr. to Willem Claesz Heda).