A pewter flagon with a small roemer hanging from its spout and a Chinese Wan-li dish with fruit on a high stone ledge, a heap of pears, apples, plums, grapes and citrus fruit on a parallel low stone ledge
Important information about this lot
Price Realised EUR 119,700
Estimate
EUR 40,000 - EUR 60,000
Estimates do not reflect the final hammer price and do not include buyer's premium, any applicable taxes or artist's resale right. Please see the Conditions of Sale for full details.
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JAN DAVIDSZ. DE HEEM (UTRECHT 1606-1684 ANTWERP)
A pewter flagon with a small roemer hanging from its spout and a Chinese Wan-li dish with fruit on a high stone ledge, a heap of pears, apples, plums, grapes and citrus fruit on a parallel low stone ledge
A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.
Lot Essay
This still life is one of the earliest known works by Jan Davidsz. de Heem and one of only two pictures from 1627 that have survived.
De Heem most likely trained for a period of time with Balthasar van der Ast, who had registered as a member of the Guild in 1619 in Utrecht, where he stayed until 1632. Although heavily indebted to Van der Ast’s compositions with two levels from circa half a decade earlier, it appears the young De Heem, aged 20 or 21 years, here explores new elements and creates novel clusters of motifs, rather differently from how Van der Ast treated his smaller still lifes (F.G. Meijer, 1988, op. cit., p. 31). Fred Meijer has also pointed out the similarities with Johannes Torrentius’ famous still life of 1614, now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The spouted pewter flagon and its low vantage point are indeed much alike. Meijer argues De Heem may have seen the picture by Torrentius in Lisse in or before 1627 (F.G. Meijer, 2016, op. cit., p. 46).
We are grateful to Dr. Fred Meijer for first-hand inspection of the picture and his assistance in cataloguing this lot. This painting will be included as catalogue no. 004 in Meijer’s forthcoming monograph on De Heem, to be published in the spring of 2024.
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A pewter flagon with a small roemer hanging from its spout and a Chinese Wan-li dish with fruit on a high stone ledge, a heap of pears, apples, plums, grapes and citrus fruit on a parallel low stone ledgeJAN DAVIDSZ. DE HEEM (UTRECHT 1606-1684 ANTWERP)Estimate: EUR 40,000 - 60,000
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Condition report
A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.
The condition of lots can vary widely and the nature of the lots sold means that they are unlikely to be in a perfect condition. Lots are sold in the condition they are in at the time of sale.
THIS CONDITION REPORT HAS BEEN PREPARED BY LARA LARSSON- VAN WASSENAAR
The painting is executed in oil paint on oak wood panel. The panel consists of three joined planks in horizontal direction. On the backside the original bonding is still visible. The sides are slightly bevelled. The condition of the panel is stable; it is nice and flat with little to no sensitivity to climate change.
In general the paint layer is well preserved and in a stable condition. The joins have discretely been retouched and some small retouches can be observed in the composition, in particular to mask the grains of the panel locally, where the paint has become thinner over time, such as in the background and in the dark area under the flagon. UV light further reveals very few tiny retouches to the depicted fruits and nuts, mainly the brown parts, which have become a bit more transparent over time. In the neck of the foot the flagon some enhancements with thin glazes under the varnish layer can be observed. The adhesion of the paint layer to the panel is good and the colours are very beautifully kept.
The varnish layer is hardly yellowed and turns green under UV light making reading more difficult.
This painting actually does not require treatment at this moment in time, but it would merit a superficial clean and a new varnish over the actual varnish layer. All observations were made with the naked eye and under UV light.
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Lot 48Sale 21640
A pewter flagon with a small roemer hanging from its spout and a Chinese Wan-li dish with fruit on a high stone ledge, a heap of pears, apples, plums, grapes and citrus fruit on a parallel low stone ledgeJAN DAVIDSZ. DE HEEM (UTRECHT 1606-1684 ANTWERP)Estimate: EUR 40,000 - 60,000
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