Lot 42: Balthasar van der Ast , Middelburg 1593/94 - 1657 Delft Still life of roses, tulips, irises, French marigold, and lily of the valley in a glass vase, on a ledge, flanked by shells, a lizard and a caterpillar oil on panel

signed lower left: B. van der Ast oil on panel

measurements note 43.5 by 32.5 cm.; 17 1/8 by 12 3/4 in.

L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, p. 71, no. 15;
S. Segal, in Masters of Middelburg, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Waterman Gallery, 1984, pp. 52 and 144, no. 14, reproduced;
Voorkeuren, 1985, p. 8, reproduced in colour p. 9.

Brigadier C. Huxley, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 12 December 1947, lot 63, for £1,050 to Slatter;
With Eugene Slatter, London, 1948, no. 21;
Dr. Hans Wetzlar, Amsterdam, by 1952.

Balthasar van der Ast was the foremost follower of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, and was almost certainly his pupil in Middelburg, where his family came from; indeed Bosschaert married his elder sister in 1604. From 1619 until 1632 he lived in Utrecht, where he almost certainly painted this flower piece. After his removal to Utrecht, the influence of Bosschaert wanes slowly, reflecting Van der Ast's increasing independence from his master, as well as the influence of Roelant Savery, who settled there following his return from Prague.

Sam Segal dates this picture to the early 1630s, while in the catalogue of the Philadelphia exhibition, a much earlier dating to around 1620 was proposed. This is probably too early - a dating in the late 1620s or around 1630 is more likely.