Lot 122: JACOB MARREL

JACOB MARREL FRANKENTHAL 1613/14 - 1681 FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN STILL LIFE WITH RED, BLACK AND GREEN GRAPES ON THE VINE, TOGETHER WITH ORANGES, A PARTLY-PEELED LEMON AND A MELON ON A DRAPED TABLE-TOP signed (altered) lower right: J. Marrel oil on panel 51.5 by 73.7 cm.; 20 1/4 by 29 in.

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 22 June 1936, lot 137 (as 'J. Moortel').

We are grateful to Drs. Fred G. Meijer of the R.K.D. in The Hague, for identifying this as a late work by Jacob Marrel, following first-hand inspection. The second 'r' of the signature has been subsequently altered into a 't' in an attempt to transform the signature into that of Jan Mortel. The calligraphy of the signature is Marrel's, however, and it corresponds to that of a similar work by him in a German private collection (see RKD website no. 190239; sold Zurich, Koller, 21 June 1985, lot 5040). With the latter work the present panel has much in common, notably the very particular execution of the grapes, vine leaves and stalks, as well as the strongly horizontal arrangement of objects along the table-top.