Lot 19: Balthasar van der Ast (Middelburg ?1593/4-1657 Delft)

Balthasar van der Ast (Middelburg ?1593/4-1657 Delft) Plums and peaches in a woven basket leaning on a wan-li porcelain bowl, with grapes, cherries, shells, a lizard, a dragonfly and other insects, on a stone ledge indistinctly signed (?) 'B... Ast' (lower right) oil on panel 11¾ x 20¾ in. (30 x 52.2 cm.)

30 x 52.2 cm.

Acquired by the father of the present owner.

Following the death of his father, Balthasar van der Ast entered the household of his brother-in-law, Ambrosius Bosschaert I, who is acknowledged as introducing the Flemish tradition of still-life painting into Dutch art after his arrival in Middelburg in circa 1585 to escape religious persecution in the Southern Netherlands. Van der Ast remained Bosschaert’s pupil until he turned twenty-one and is recorded in 1619 as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Utrecht, where he settled until 1632, before joining the painter’s guild in Delft. Having absorbed the influences of his master, van der Ast broadened his pictorial repertoire to incorporate a more diverse selection of objects in his paintings, including shells and exotic fruit, as exemplified in this previously unrecorded work, which is one of the artist’s most flamboyant and ambitious compositions. This picture showcases van der Ast’s abilities as a still-life painter: in the elaborate and yet perfectly balanced composition, which is governed by a strong diagonal running through the tilted basket and the draped white cloth, echoed in the direction of the overflowing fruit; and in the skilful rendering of the different textures, from the fur of the peach skins and mould developing on the over-ripe plums, to the fabric of the white cloth and draped curtain, and the hard, reflective surface of the shells and porcelain bowl. Shells were highly desirable in seventeenth-century Holland and vast prices were paid for the best and rarest examples. As well as a symbol of wealth and luxury, shells have also been interpreted as a sign of vanity and the transience of earthly beauty and possessions. The fine Chinese porcelain, depicted with great precision of draughtsmanship, was also considered an exotic object of great rarity and value. We are grateful to Fred Meijer, of the RKD, The Hague, for confirming the attribution after first-hand examination of the picture. He believes this to be a relatively late work by the artist and compares it with a picture of similarly extravagant composition and strong diagonal emphasis, of slightly larger dimensions (45.5 x 86.5 cm.), in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.