Lot 69. Attributed to Pieter Claesz. (Burgsteinfurt 1597-1660 Haarlem), An upturned pewter jug, silver beaker, a candlestick with a pewter platter, a glass cup and cover, mustard pot and a vine on a draped table, oil on panel, 82.5 x 90cm (32 1/2 x 35 7/16in). Estimate: £20,000.00 - £30,000.00 (€ 22,000 - 34,000). © Bonhams.

Provenance: With Sidney L. Moss, London, where purchased by the late owner in February 1947.

Note: The upturned pewter jug and silver beaker in the present work also appear in a still life offered at Christie's on 11 December 1992, lot 84, as a collaboration between Pieter Claesz., Jan Jansz. Den Uyl and Roelof Koets. Other elements in common with the Christie's work are the mustard pot and the candlestick at the far right of the composition. Fred Meijer believes the latter still life to be a single-handed work entirely by Pieter Claesz. dating to the mid-1630s. Also close to the present still life is the signed work previously with Douwes Fine Art in 1926 (see M. Brunner-Bulst, Pieter Claesz. der Hauptmeister des Haarlemer Stillebens im 17. Jahrhundert, Lingen 2004, p. 254, cat. no. 89, ill. p. 255) with the similarly upturned silver beaker resting on a pewter plate. 

We are grateful to Dr. Fred Meijer for suggesting that this painting is by Pieter Claesz., upon first-hand inspection of the work, and for suggesting a date of the mid 1630s. We are also grateful to Dr. Martina Brunner-Bulst who has suggested an alternative attribution to Hendrick van Heemskerck (1619-1680). 

Bonhams. Old Master Paintings, London, 5 Dec 2018