Lot 1225 Dα

When the present two still lives appeared in a Sotheby's auction in London in 1974, they were originally attributed to Ambrosius Brueghel. Three years later Ingvar Bergström published the paintings in an article and assigned them to the work of Georg Flegel (Bergström 1977, loc. cit., p. 141). Research since has confirmed Flegel's authorship, both from Sam Segal and Hana Seifertová as well as Kurt Wettengel and Anne-Dore Ketelsen-Volkhardt. Only the dating of both paintings has been discussed. Whilst Bergström suggested a date of between 1605 and 1610 and Segal dated both to around 1630, Ketelsen-Volkhardt placed them to a later period of the artist, to after 1630, for which the constricted, close composition is typical.
Bergström characterised both still lives as 'perfectly preserved in their original, jewel-like form' (Bergström 1977, loc. cit.) as well as in their 'jewel-like perfection, typical for Flegel', (exhibition catalogue 1979/80, loc. cit., p. 559). The first painting with the gilded, Mannerist vase displays many different flowers, including irises, hyacinths, fritillaries and daffodils. In contrast, its pendant contains exclusively carnations of various types. Around both vases are numerous fruits and animals. Anne-Dore Ketelsen-Volkhardt pointed out that the smaller fruits and animals of the first still life reflects the small details of the metal vase decorated with shields and sirens, whilst parallels can be found between the rounded glass vase of the second picture and the larger, rounded forms of the peaches and red grapes.
The fruits and animals at the foot of both vases belong partly to Flegel's standard motif repertoire, and can be found in other paintings by this master. For example the snail features in a flower still life, in an English private collection (compare Ketelsen-Volkhardt, loc. cit., no. 61, ill. 86, p. 266). For individual flowers in both works, Bergström found examples amongst Gerorg Flegel's watercolours kept in the Berlin Museum of Prints and Drawings.
The artistic personality of Flegel was sketched by Ingvar Bergström in the catalogue of the important stlll life exhibition in Münster and Baden-Baden as follows: 'Georg Flegel (1566-1638) is one of the most important European painters of flower pieces of his time (...)' (exhibition cat. 1979/80, loc. cit., p. 559).