Harmen van Steenwijck (Circa 1612 - Delft - after 1655), A vanitas still life with a bust, a standing sculpture, a skull, an oil lamp, a sword, clay pipes, a cowrie shell and other items on a stone ledge, Oil on panel, 60.8 x 81.8 cm (23.9 x 32.2 in.). Signed with initials 'HS'. © TEFAF 2018

This work shares some elements with Steenwyck's Still life: An allegory of the vanitiesof human life in the collection of the National Gallery, London (NG1256). The most notable element are the unusual oil lamp and the (probably) Japanese sword. This still life is datable to circa 1650. As Koozin (1990) observed, the sword is the same as in a Vanitas still life by his brother, Pieter Steenwijck, from 1654. (According to Koozin, Bredius identified the sword as Eastern, Bergström as North-African, while E. de Jongh described it as a ‘Hartsvanger’ (heart catcher), often used by naval officers.)

The influence of earlier paintings by David Bailly are tangible in Steenwijck's elaborate Vanitas and particularly in the monochrome element of the palette. Interestingly Bailly's famous 'Portrait of a Young Painter with a Vanitas Still life' (Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden (inv. 1351)) from 1651 depicts many similar items in the still life . This suggests that both artists, also because of their family connection, remained in contact after Steenwijck had completed his training with Bailly.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for his assistance in cataloguing this painting.

Provenance: Sale London, Robinson & Fischer, 18 May 1939, lot 55; Private collection, Ireland

Literature: K. Koozin, The vanitas still lifes of Harmen Steenwijck: metaphoric realism, Lewiston 1990, pp. 55-57 

Rafael Valls Limited (Stand 341) at TEFAF Maastricht, March 10-18, 2018