Lot 139. François Habert (Active in Paris, mid-17th century), Still life of flowers in a blue and white Chinese porcelain bowl with a red admiral butterfly on a wooden ledge, signed lower right: F. HABERT. F, oil on panel, 10 5/8  by 14 1/4  in,; 27.3 by 36.2 cm. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 USD. Lot Sold 81,250 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: With Galerie de Jonckheere;
Anonymous sale, Christie's London, 7 July 2000, lot 48;
There acquired by the present collector. 

Exhibited: Paris, Musée du Petit Palais, Peintres de Fleurs en France 17e-19e Siècles, 19 May – 2 September, 1979, no. 13. 

Literature: M. Faré, Le grand siècle de la nature morte en France, le XVIIe siècle, Fribourg, 1974, p. 271;
E. Coatalem, La nature morte française au XVIIe siècle, Dijon 2014, p. 186, reproduced p. 187.  

Note: François Habert was active in Paris from about 1643-1652, though little is known about his life, including whether he was French or Flemish.  As Eric Coatalem notes, the prices listed for his paintings in 18th century inventories indicate that he was an important and successful artist.1  His paintings, of which only a handful are known today, range from large-scale, grand tablescapes with ornate fabrics, food, and objects to more restrained compositions such as the present painting.

1. See Coatalem, under Literature, p. 184.

Sotheby's. Master Paintings and Sculpture Day Sale, New York, 02 Feb 2018