Jan van Kessel the Elder, attributed to
FRUIT STILL LIFE WITH FLOWER TAZZA, SQUIRREL, AND JAR
Oil on panel. 30,6 x 54 cm.
A second version of this composition of the same size, painted on copper, is in the Harold Samuel Collection, London. In the course of time, both paintings were attributed to different artists: either to Jan Brueghel I or Jan Brueghel II, or to Jan van Kessel the Elder or a follower of Jan van Kessel (Fred Meijer).
Both paintings show a table displaying an array of objects, animals and insects: a golden tazza with flowers, a squirrel, two guinea pigs, Chinese porcelain bowls with berries and cherries, butterflies, small blossoms, nuts, bread and cutlery. Unidentified as yet - and eingmatic - on both paintings is the white napkin at the table's edge with the embroidered Habsburg double-eagle. Perhaps this is an indication to the patron, possibly Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662), governor of the Southern Netherlands and an important art collector.
A third, very similar composition was (or still is) in a Frankfurt private collection. Together they add to a series of comparable works attributed to Jan van Kessel. The most elaborate are two large still lifes in the Galleria Doria Pamphilij in Rome. The oeuvre of Jan van Kessel the Elder has not yet been documented in a monograph. Klaus Ertz is preparing a catalogue raisoné to be published in 2012/13 where this painting will be included.
Certificate
Klaus Ertz, 21.8.2010 (as an authentic work by Jan van Kessel the Elder).
Provenance
With art dealers K. and V. Waterman, Amsterdam 1984. - Belgian Private collection Belgische Privatsammlung. - On the reverse pounce of the paneelmaaker Melchior de Bout. Old collector´s seal with seahorse or pegasus (?). collection number N 75 Breugle de velours.
Literature
P. Sutton: Dutch and Flemish Seventeenth Century Paintings. The Harold Samuels Collection, Cambridge 1992, S. 107-109.