Simon Luttichuys (London 1610-1662 Amsterdam) and Cornelis de Heem (Leiden 1631-1695 Antwerp), A 'Roemer' with white wine, a partially peeled lemon, cherries and other fruit on a silver plate with a rose and grapes on a stone ledge

with signature 'J.D. De Heem f' (lower center) . oil on canvas. 19 x 24 in. 48.3 x 60.8 cm.

Provenance: Paul Prince Galitzin, St. Petersburg and Paris, 1875.
Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 10 November 1875, lot 44, to C.E. Detmolds.
Hugo Kaufmann, Amsterdam, 1941.
with Abt, 1941.
with D.A. Hoogendijk & Co., Amsterdam 1941; from whom purchased by
H.W. Hupp for the Museum Düsseldorf, 1941.
Returned to the Netherlands, 1947;
Instituut Collectie Nederland, no NK2296, until restituted to the heirs of Hugo Kaufmann in 2007.

Literature: O. ter Kuile, Seventeenth-century North Netherlandish Still Lifes, Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, The Hague and Amsterdam, 1985, pp. 136-37, no. VI-37, illustrated.
Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst - Old Master Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue, Zwolle and The Hague, 1992, p. 183, no. 1537, illustrated.

Notes: While this still life is mostly by Luttichuys -- the dish, roemer, lemon, and most likely the orange slice -- some additional elements -- the grapes, the rose, the leaf next to the roemer, the cherries, and the plums -- are clearly by another hand. Stylistically these elements relate to the work of Cornelis de Heem who in fact probably added them in the 1660s or 1670s after the artist's move to Amsterdam. It may be that the painting is a fragment, or was damaged, or simply went unfinished (we know of other unfinished examples by Luttichuys that were finished by another artist and his studio inventory lists several unfinished works) and Cornelis may either have been asked or decided himself to 'enhance' the work of Luttichuys in order to make it more attractive to prospective buyers or its owner. At which stage the signature of Jan Davidsz. de Heem was added is unclear, but most likely at a later date.

We would like to thank Fred Meijer for his assistance in the preparation of this catalogue entry as well as his new attribution of the painting to both Luttichuys and de Heem.

Christie's. Important Old Master Paintings. 28 January 2009. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2009. www.christies.com