Koller to offer a rediscovered masterpiece by Ambrosius Bosschaert

11 mars 2025

Koller to offer a rediscovered masterpiece by Ambrosius Bosschaert

ZURICH.- A sumptuous floral still life from a pioneer of 17th-century floral still life painting and one of the most talented painters in this genre, was recently rediscovered in a private collection and will be offered in the 28 March auction at Koller. Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder was so precise in rendering the naturalistic details that all species of flower and fauna in the work can be clearly identified (lot 3019, CHF 250 000 / 350 000).

Lot 3019. Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Bouquet of flowers in a Roemer glass set in a niche. Circa 1620. Oil on copper. Monogrammed lower left: AB (ligature), 26.3 × 17.1 cm. Estimate: CHF 250 000 / 350 000 | (€ 257 730 / 360 820). Sold for CHF 700 000. © Koller

Provenance: - Noble collection, Rhineland.
- Sale Theodor Bauer, Berlin, 12.5.1928, Lot 46.
- European private collection.

Literature: Laurens Johannes Bol: The Bosschaert Dynasty. Painters of flowers and fruit, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, p. 65, no. 36.

Note: Recently rediscovered in a private collection, this colourful and high quality bouquet on a copper plate is a remarkable addition to the previously known œuvre of the flower still life painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. It is a characteristic example of his late artistic
phase.

A colourful bouquet is placed in a roemer glass in a vaulted stone niche. On the base, the composition is enlivened by a butterfly and two shells. The bouquet is composed of a variety of flowers, all arranged so that they barely overlap, thereby skilfully showcasing their uniqueness. Two different rose blossoms with buds are shown, along with a flamed tulip, a lily of the valley branch, a violet, rosemary leaves, forget-me-nots, a blue star-of-Bethlehem, a pansy, bluebells, a carnation and other foliage. The bouquet is crowned by a Siberian iris.

Dr Fred G. Meijer, who studied the still life on the basis of a photograph (for which we thank him), dates it to the 1620s and describes it as an excellent example from the late work of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder.

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder is considered one of the pioneers of the independent flower still life at the beginning of the 17th century. Little is known about his artistic beginnings. Born in Antwerp, he moved with his family to Middelburg at a young age. There he became one of the first specialists in the field of flower painting. The interest of numerous amateur botanists, who cultivated plants and rare species in their gardens, probably particularly encouraged the demand for flower still lifes as a separate genre in painting. From 1593 to 1613, Bosschaert was listed in the St. Lucas Guild, but he also worked as an art dealer. In 1615 Bosschaert first went to Bergen op Zoom, from 1616-1619 to Utrecht and from 1619-1621 to Breda. He died in The Hague in 1621 while delivering a flower still life to his commissioner Frederick van Schurman, the bottelier of Prince Maurits of Orange (1567–1625). The painting is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (dated 1621, oil on copper, 31.6 x 21.6 cm, inv. no. 1996.35.1). Our flower still life may also have been painted in Breda.

Laurens Johannes Bol pointed out that the flowers depicted in Bosschaert's bouquets never actually bloomed at the same time and should therefore be seen as a composed arrangement (Bol 1960, p. 20 ff). The most precious types of flowers are combined into a single work. For this, Bosschaert had not only examples from nature but also a number of botanical drawings and printed illustrations as models, such as those in the florilegia of Rembertus Dodonaeus (1516–1585) and Carolus Clusius (1526–1609), two important botanists of the 16th century, as well as the prints of Adriaen Collaert (c. 1560–1618).

Compared to the also copper-plated bouquet of flowers sold at Koller in 2008 (ill. 1) and which is an example of Bosschaert's early work, this still life is characterised by an increase in spatial depth and precision of architectural background design. While the early bouquet still has a monochrome background, the vault of the niche can now be seen, enlarging the pictorial space in the background. The three-dimensionality of the flowers and leaves is thus perfected and the volume of the bouquet accented. Shadow reflections of the individual flowers and leaves can be seen on the stone back wall, further enhancing the overall spatial impression.

These characteristics can also be found in the bouquet by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder in the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, which is dated 1618 (oil on copper, 55.5 x 39.5 cm, inv. no. KMSsp211). Here, too, sea snails are depicted, and their detailed reproduction makes it possible to identify them. In the 17th century, shells and sea snails came to Holland on the ships of the Dutch East and West India Companies and were sold to collectors for sometimes large sums of money. As 'Naturalia', curiosities and objects of scientific study, they found their way into both courtly and bourgeois art and collector's cabinets. Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) is exemplary in his Portrait of the Dutch merchant Jan Govertsz. van der Aar (c. 1544–1612) from 1603, in which he proudly presents his collection of sea shells to the viewer (oil on canvas, 107.5 x 83 cm, Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, loan from P. and N. de Boer Foundation 1960, inv. no. 3450).

The accurate reproduction of the small animals in our painting enables conchologists and lepidopterologists to identify the species. Thus, a marbled cone snail and a Cuban painted snail, Polymita picta picta, can be found at the bottom right of the stone slab. The butterfly on the left is a Queen of Spanish fritillary (ill. 2).

Ambrosius Bosschaert's monogram, consisting of the intertwined initials A and B, can also be seen at the bottom left of the niche. The arrangement may recall the work of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), who was active a hundred years earlier, and whose monogram appears in a comparable way. Dürer was one of the first artists to include precise observation of nature in his work. Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder thus aligned himself with the tradition of scientific observation and demonstrated his own esteem and position in art history at the beginning of the 17th century in the Netherlands.

Other highlights of the Old Masters auction include a fish still life by Clara Peeters, one of the earliest of this genre (lot 3022, CHF 70 000 / 100 000). Peeters’ works are highly sought after at the moment, as evidenced by the CHF 622 000 that a still life with falcon by her fetched in Koller’s September 2024 auction.

Lot 3022. Clara Peeters (active 1607 Antwerp until/after 1621), Still life with fish, prawns and oysters. Oil on panel, 31.2 × 47 cm. Estimate CHF 70 000 / 100 000 | (€ 72 160 / 103 090). Sold for CHF 70 000. © Koller

Provenance: - With W. E. Curtis, Picture Frame Gilder, Banbury, probably for framing (label verso).
- Sale Christie's, London, 6.4.1984, Lot 1.
- European private collection.
- Private collection, Switzerland.

Literature: Pamela Hibbs Decoteau: Clara Peeters 1594–ca. 1640 and the Development of Still Life Painting in Northern Europe, Lingen 1992, pp. 8, 62, 185, fig. 47 (as circle of Clara Peeters).

Note: Following the success of the September 2024 auction of a painting with a falcon and other birds by Clara Peeters, Koller Auctions is particularly pleased to be able to offer another still life by this talented and influential Flemish artist in the spring 2025 auction. This still life, which has not been seen on the market for forty years, depicts a carp on a table with a pike crossed over it, a closed and an open oyster, three prawns and, in the rear, an earthenware bowl on which a metal strainer with lettuce, spring onions and a ladle are arranged.

The fish and crustaceans depicted are products from the regional waters of the southern Netherlands, where Clara Peeters lived, which were also offered alive at the weekly markets, with the result that the artist was able to study them close to their natural state. The composition takes up elements that Clara Peeters also used in what is probably the earliest dated fish still life in art history from 1611 in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid (oil on panel, 50 × 72 cm, signed and dated 1611, inv. no. P1621), namely the crossed fish in the foreground, the metal strainer and the ladle as well as the earthenware bowl and the prawns.

The reflections of the ladle on the metal strainer, which are clearly visible in our still life, show Peeters’ predilection for depicting reflected light and the distinct materiality of the individual elements. These reflections can also be found in her fish still life in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp (oil on panel, 37.7 × 9.9 cm, signed, inv. no. 834). The transparency of the prawn shells, which are probably cooked judging by their red colour, can also be seen there. These are stylistically very similar to the depiction of the crustaceans in the still life offered here.

In terms of style and composition, this still life is also related to the painting on panel of almost the same size by Clara Peeters in the Philadelphia Museum of Art-John G. Johnson Collection (oil on panel, 35.2 × 48.3 cm, inv. no. 647), in which crossed fish, an earthenware vessel, oysters and cooked prawns are also laid out on a tabletop. In her 1992 publication, Pamela Hibbs Decoteau lists this painting, on the basis of photographs, as a work from the artist's circle. For Dr Fred G. Meijer, however, there is no doubt that the work is by Clara Peeters’ own hand. He stresses that the artistic execution is of a high standard and corresponds to the quality of her other work. Technical analyses have also confirmed the high quality of the painting. Meijer situates this painting in Peeters’ early period of around 1611 and therefore the same period as the Prado fish still life.

Little is known about Clara Peeters' life and artistic training. Accordingly, the chronological classification of her works is based on stylistic characteristics; some of the wooden panels bear the brand of the city of Antwerp, which suggests that she worked there. Whether she was a member of the Guild of St Luke is not documented. But as Pamela Hibbs Decoteau notes, the lists for the period 1607 – 1628 are also incomplete (ibid. p. 9). Peeters specialised in still life painting and is considered a pioneer of several specific genres. For example, she made her mark on hunting still lifes, such as the one with the falcon and other birds, which was auctioned at Koller in September 2024, or the fish still life from around 1610 now offered here. Dated works from her known œuvre range from 1607–1609 to 1621. A total of 39 signed works by the artist are known, but the total oeuvre proves to be far more extensive – see also the lists of autograph works in the RKD, The Hague and in the literature (Hibbs Decoteau, pp. 178–182; Adriaan van der Willigen and Fred G. Meijer: A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-life Painters Working in Oils, 1525–1725, Leiden 2003, pp. 158–159; exh. cat. The Art of Clara Peeters, ed. by Alejandro Vergara, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2016, p. 14).

We would like to thank Dr Fred G. Meijer for his expert assistance with the cataloguing.

The painting is archived as an autograph work by Clara Peeters in the RKD, The Hague under number 21753.

A 1547 work by Lucas Cranach the Younger depicting the Apostle Paul is estimated at CHF 170 000 / 250 000 (lot 3008).

Lot 3008. Lucas Cranach the Younger (Wittenberg 1515–1586 Weimar),The Apostle Paul, 1547. Oil on panel. Signed lower right with the snake monogram and dated 1547, 20.7 × 14.9 cm. Estimate CHF 170 000 / 250 000 | (€ 175 260 / 257 730). Unsold © Koller

Provenance: - Collection of Marquesa Margaret Rockefeller de Larrain (1897–1985).
- Sale Sotheby's, New York, 8.1.1981, Lot 105 (as Lucas Cranach the Elder).
- Collection of Ian Woodner (1903–1990).
- Sale Christie's, New York, 25.5.1999, Lot 113 (as Lucas Cranach the Younger).
- Private collection.
- Sale Christie's, London, 9.7.2015, Lot 32 (as Lucas Cranach the Younger).
- European private collection.

Note: Dr Dieter Koepplin confirms the authenticity and emphasises the particularly high quality of our painting. He also places the painting close to the father, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and considers his involvement in the painting offered here to be entirely possible.

Dr Michael Hofbauer confirms that the present work is a high-quality depiction of St Paul, created in the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, and emphasises the very good state of preservation of the painting.

Another rediscovery, a still life by Pieter Claesz. in his classic monochrome and realistic style looks almost good enough to eat (lot 3031, CHF 40 000 / 60 000).

Lot 3031. Pieter Claesz. (Berchem circa 1597–circa 1660 Haarlem), Still life with herrings, bread rolls, beer glass, wine-filled Roemer glass and bulbous Bartmann jug. Oil on panel. Monogrammed centre right: CP (ligature), 40 × 55.4 cm. Estimate CHF 40 000 / 60 000 | (€ 41 240 / 61 860). Sold for CHF 50 000. © Koller

Provenance: - With Jan van Herck, Antwerp.
- Private collection, Belgium, since 1973.
- Thence by descent.

Exhibited: Antwerp 1935, Tentoonstelling van kunstwerken uit Antwerpsche verzamelingen. Catalogus tweede reeks. Antwerpsche propagandaweken, 10.8.-22.9.1935 (as Willem Claesz. Heda) (label verso).

Note: Our thanks to Dr Fred G. Meijer who has confirmed the authenticity of the painting on the basis of a photograph and dated the work to 1658.

Our thanks to Dr Martina Brunner-Bulst who has agreed to provide a written expert opinion on request after studying the painting.

In the 19th Century Paintings sale, also on 28 March, a private collection assembled by a connoisseur over decades features no less than eight works by the Munich painter Carl Spitzweg, including ‘Der Scharwache’ (The night watch), an expressive and anecdotal period piece (lot 3223, CHF 150 000 / 250 000), as well as masterly depictions of nature and animals, for example ‘Sixteen ducks in the evening light’ by Alexander Koester (lot 3232, CHF 60 000 / 80 000).

Lot 3223. Carl Spitzweg (1808 Munich 1885), Die Scharwache (The Nighwatch). Circa 1870. Oil on canvas. Monogrammed lower left: S in rhombus. 54 × 31.5 cm. Estimate CHF 150 000 / 250 000 | (€ 154 640 / 257 730). © Koller

Lot 3232. Alexander Koester (Bergneustadt 1864–1932 Munich), Sixteen ducks in the evening light. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left: A KOESTER. 80 × 142.5 cm. Estimate CHF 60 000 / 80 000 | (€ 61 860 / 82 470). © Koller

A highlight of the Decorative Arts auction on 27 March is an unusually large Cycladic idol from circa 2500 B.C. (lot 1003, CHF 350 000 / 600 000). Created by a lost culture in the Cycladic islands off the coast of Greece, the origins and meaning of these works has confounded researchers for the nearly two centuries since they were rediscovered. Their denuded abstraction seems strikingly modern to our eyes, and they have inspired artists including Modigliani, Picasso, Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti.

Lot 1003. Large Cycladic idol, Early Cycladic, Spedos type, ca. 2500–2400 BC. Attributed to the Goulandris Sculptor. Marble, H without mount 42.6 cm. Estimate CHF 350 000 / 600 000 | (€ 360 820 / 618 560). © Koller

Large fragment of a female idol. Lyre-shaped head with a prominent, elongated nose merging directly into a receding forehead, harmoniously rounded chin. Long, slightly thickened neck (restored). Sloping shoulders, the shoulder base at slightly different heights. Broad torso with small, widely spaced, pointed breasts. The slender arms are crossed under the chest. Slightly bulging belly, notched underbelly fold merging into a stylized pubic triangle. Slightly curved thighs with a deeply notched thigh slit. Visible notched upper arm slits on the back. Straight back with slightly bulging buttocks and a deeply notched thigh slit. With a later metal frame.

Provenance: - Anonymous owner in London before September 1977 (according to a file card).
- Ars Antiqua SA, Geneva, acquired from the above in September 1977 (according to a file card).
- Swiss private collection.

Exhibited: - Oliver Forge & Brendon Lynch: Fragments from the Tiber to the Ganges. Exhibition catalog, July 3-10, 2015, fig. 46.
- Presented at TEFAF in Maastricht, 2021/2022.

Literature: Patricia Getz-Preziosi: Skulpturen der Kykladen: Individuum und Tradition im dritten Jahrtausend v. Chr. University of Michigan, 1987, Pl. 34, Nr. 22 (Abbildung des Torsos ohne Kopf).

Note: Head and torso possibly assorted. Tip of the nose replaced. Head and back with breaks. Broken edge above the knee. Weathering.

Marble idols from the Cycladic cultures are among the most amazing and mysterious artifacts of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. The figures are named after the places where they were found on the Cycladic Islands of Greece, which is why the name “Cycladic Idol” has become established for these unique cult objects. These predominantly female statuettes in various sizes and forms are characterized by an abstract stylization of the human body and, even today, the reduced formal language continues to amaze the modern eye. Their exact function is still a matter of speculation among researchers. Patricia Getz-Preziosi, a leading expert in the field of Cycladic idol research since the 1970s, emphasizes in her numerous studies that the idols' iconography provides no clear evidence of a specific religious function. Instead, their meaning could vary depending on the context. The emphasis on feminine forms, such as the pointed breasts, the slightly bulging bellies, the incised pubic triangles and the sometimes protruding hips, suggests that they could be read as fertility figures. An important aspect emphasized by Getz-Preziosi is the aesthetic and material dimension of the idols. Their smoothly hewn surfaces, original polychromy and the use of high-quality marble suggest that the statuettes had not only a symbolic function, but also representative functions. The discovery of pigment residues also indicates that the idols were originally painted, which must have significantly changed their visual impact.

The earliest products are dated to around 5000 BC, with the artistic peak being reached around 2500 BC, during the Early Cycladic II period of the Keros-Syros culture (approx. 2700–2400/2300 BC). During this period, the typical basic form, as exemplified by the specimen on offer, was canonized. In the late 1960s, Colin Renfrew proposed four types of Early Cycladic idols, classified according to their chronological appearance: 1. “Kapsala type”, 2. “Spedos type”, 3. “Dokathismata type” (whereby the Spedos and Dokathismata types can occur simultaneously) and 4. “Chalandrianityp” (Colin Renfrew: The Development and Chronology of the Early Cycladic Figurines. In: American Journal of Archaeology 73, 1969, pp. 1–32). The figure on offer is counted among the Spedos variants.

In her studies, Patricia Getz-Preziosi has shown that these types not only reflect chronological developments, but also provide clues to different workshop traditions. In a paper published in 1987, she attributes the torso of the example on offer to the Goulandris Sculptor. It is illustrated without its head under number 22 (Patricia Getz-Preziosi: Sculptors of the Cyclades: Individual and Tradition in the Third Millennium B.C. University of Michigan, 1987, Pl. 32, No. 22). Named after the Greek private collection, which houses two complete idols of the Sculptor, she has compiled a corpus of around 100 idols and idol fragments that bear the signature of this Sculptor. According to our current knowledge, some fifty pieces can be attributed to the Goulandris Sculptor. Getz-Preziosi is particularly enthusiastic about the Goulandris Sculptor, describing him as “one of the best sculptors of his time” (ibid., p. 99). The figures created by him are characterized by a robust appearance with soft, subtle contours. Cleanly incised lines emphasize the horizontal lines of the chin, décolletage, stomach, knees and ankles. The head has the classical shape of a lyre and is characterized by a prominent, elongated nose with a half-round tip, which is often quite low on the face. The arms are slender and the small breasts are placed wide apart. The abdominal area is defined by a broad line that forms the apex of a small pubic triangle. Idols attributed to Goulandris Sculptor sometimes differ significantly in size. The smallest idol measures 16.5 cm; by far the largest, from the Copenhagen Glyptothek, measures 98 cm. The idol on offer, with a torso size of 29 cm, is in the upper range. For Getz-Preziosi, this is a further indication of quality: “It would seem that the smaller, less elaborate, thicker figures of the Goulandris Sculptor represent an early phase of his development, while the larger, thinner, more detailed, more carefully planned and modeled works (e.g. ... 22 (the copy on offer)) represent the Sculptor's highest attainments” (ibid. p. 104).

Idols or idol fragments attributed to the Goulandris Sculptor come mostly from two islands, Naxos and Keros. From the article by Getz-Preziosi, it is clear that the item on offer comes from Keros (ibid. p. 108). According to a handwritten note on a copy of an index card with a photo, the idol on offer was in an anonymous English private collection until November 8, 1977, when it was traded (currency stated as pounds) for what is now a Swiss private collection.

The rediscovery of Cycladic sculptures took place in the 19th century. The exhibits found their way into the collections of major museums such as the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London, where they represented a new source of inspiration for modern artists. Their abstract nature, their reduction and simplicity radiate a timelessness. We can see influences of Cycladic art in the sculptures of Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi, Amedeo Modigliani, Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore. It is hardly surprising that Cycladic idols have long since found their way into modern and contemporary art collections due to their timeless elegance and mystical radiance.

The Books & Autographs auction on 26 March presents an important selection of illuminated manuscripts and early printed books, as well as a large collection of private correspondence by the artist Oskar Kokoschka (lot 4519, CHF 120 000 / 160 000).

Lot 4519. Oskar Kokoschka, painter and writer (1886-1980), Collection of 89 handwritten letters and cards with signature. Also 94 handwritten letters and cards from his wife Olda Kokoschka (1915-2004). 1961-1978, continued by Olda K. until 1998. Letters mostly in addressed and used envelopes. Estimate CHF 120,000 / 160,000 | (€123,710 / 164,950). © Koller