Provenance: Louis Durr (1821-1880), New York;
Given by his estate to the New York Historical Society in 1882 (acc. no. 1882.0590);
Their sale, New York, Sotheby's, 12 January 1995, lot 50, for $63,000.

Exhibited: New York, The American Museum of Natural History, Invertebrates and Man, 1966.

Literature: New York Historical Society Catalogue, 1915, cat. no. D-59;
W. Bernt, The Netherlandish Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. III, 1970, p. 137;
W. Bernt, Die Niederländischen Maler und Zeichner des 17. Jahrhunderts, vol. III, 1989, p. 56.

Note: Paintings by Westhoven, of which this is one of the best examples, are rare. It is clear from his paintings that we do know, however, that he was greatly inspired by the leading Dutch still life painter of the Golden Age, Jan Davidsz. de Heem.

In the present work, Huybert van Westhoven depicts a group of objects which would all have suggested considerable wealth and luxury – nautilus shells, citrus fruit, a lobster, and a blue and white Ming Kraak porcelain vase which would have been imported into the Netherlands from China. During the seventeenth century, Amsterdam became the largest trading port in the world, resulting in a high standard of living for the Dutch people – still lifes such as this were often commissioned to represent their wealth.

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