Lot 151: BALTHASAR HUYS MALINES C. 1590 - 1652 ROTTERDAM A STILL LIFE OF A COCKEREL AND CHICKS ON A LEDGE

BALTHASAR HUYS MALINES C. 1590 - 1652 ROTTERDAM A STILL LIFE OF A COCKEREL AND CHICKS ON A LEDGE SURROUNDED BY ASPARAGUS, CAULIFLOWER AND PEARS, A BASKET OF MIXED FRUIT BEHIND

signed with monogram and dated l.r.: BH/16(5?)0

oil on canvas

CATALOGUE NOTE

Balthasar Huys, formerly known as the Monogrammist BH, appears to have been active in the cities of Malines and Rotterdam. Huys is first recorded in Malines in 1608 where he was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Saive. He married Anna Hemelryck in 1612 and is recorded as a Master of the Malines Guild in 1619. He and his wife moved to Rotterdam before 1628, when a son was born there and where he worked until he died in 1652. A kitchen still life with a maid, signed and dated 1645, was sold London, Christie's, 15 December 1989, lot 228 and clearly shows the influence of his teacher Saive. The composition can be compared to a Still life of two chickens, snipe, a duck, a cauliflower and a basket of fruit, signed and dated 1650, sold at Milan, Finarte, 12 December, 1988, lot 120. A similar composition by Huys, signed and dated 1650, was sold Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 7 November, 1999, lot 195, and a another Still life of chickens and artichokes, signed with monogram and dated 1644, was sold Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 6 November, 2001, lot 77.
We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer from the Rijksburearu voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague, for suggesting the attirbution to Balthasar Huys on the basis of photographs.

86 by 108cm.; 34 by 42 1/4 in.