Lot 1034 Dα

Juan van der Hamen y León was the son of one of King Philipp II's Flemish house guards, and was born in Madrid. He was probably taught to paint by one of the artists working at the royal Spanish court. He is known to have already established himself as an independent painter with his own studio in 1616, and Philipp III purchased one of his still lifes before ordering him to the royal court. Alongside Juan Sánchez Cotán, van der Hamen was one of the most important still life painters in Spain during this period.
Around 70 works have thus far been attributed to van der Hamen. He died when he was just 35 years old. His most important works are today in museum ownership, with many in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, where the works from the former royal collections are kept. William B. Jordan planned to include this work in his catalogue raisonné of the artist before his death. Jordan spent decades researching van der Hamen's œuvre, and curated the exhibition of his works in the Prado and the Meadow Museum in Dallas in 2005. Jordan suggested that this painting could be a section of a larger composition.