Exhibited: The Hague, Gemeente Museum, on loan, 1962-1984. 
Chicago, Art Institute, on loan, 1986-1989. 
Minneapolis, Institute of Arts, on loan, 1989-1999.

Note: Among the ravel of jewels, tomes and draperies, the sullen murmur of musical instruments can still be heard performing the score of a foregone melody. With its familiar grammar of visual symbols, this vanitas invites the observer to contemplate the brevity of human life, the frailty of man and the vanity of all worldly things. 

Painted by Edwaert Collier, whose self-portrait peers at us from the lower right of the canvas, this picture demonstrates the artist’s unusual playfulness and curious eye for detail. Born in the Southern Netherlandish town of Breda in around 1640, Collier spent much of his life between Leiden and London. Though he produced the majority of his vanitas still-lifes during his residence in Leiden (1667-1693), this work dates to his early years in Haarlem and shows the possible influence of Vincent Laurensz. van der Vinne and David Bailly. The sophisticated composition and technical virtuosity suggest that it was a significant commission. The only comparable pictures in terms of scale are also early works, including that in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. A3471), and the picture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 71.19), both also dated 1662. Only two further similar works by Collier date to that year, one of which was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 31 January 2013, lot 68, for $506,500. 

Christie's. Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale, 9 December 2015, London