Lot 13: JAN DAVIDSZ. DE HEEM | Still life with peaches, figs, plums, grapes and oysters upon a wooden table top

oil on oak panel

21.7 by 27. 4 cm.; 8 1/2  by 10 3/4  in.

oil on oak panel

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The panel is uncradled and has one insert on the reverse supporting a panel join which is approximately 9 cm above the lower horizontal edge. The structural condition is sound and secure. Paint Surface The paint surface has a reasonably even varnish layer but there are a few minor surface abrasions and revarnishing would therefore be beneficial to ensure a more even surface coating. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows a horizontal line of inpainting which is approximately 6 cm in length and runs in from the left vertical framing edge and corresponds to the panel join. There are also a few small retouchings on the peaches, minimal spots on the oyster shell, small spots in the background and retouchings along the upper horizontal framing edge. There are also a few small retouchings in the tablecloth and other scattered spots of inpainting. Some of these retouchings appear to be slightly larger than is really necessary and could therefore be reduced with more careful inpainting. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Verborgen. Nederlandse en Vlamse schilderijn uit de 16de en 17de eeuw uit de collective W.C. Escher, 2002, no. 9;
Winterthur, Museum Oskar Reinhart, Oranje! Meisterwerke holländischer Malerei, 29 November 2014 – 5 April 2015, no. 31.

R.E.O. Ekkart, in Verborgen. Nederlandse en Vlamse schilderijn uit de 16de en 17de eeuw uit de collective W.C. Escher, exhibition catalogue, Utrecht, Centraal Museum, 2002, pp. 64–65, 119, no. 9;
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Jan Davidsz. de Heem by Fred G. Meijer, currently in preparation.

Wilhelm Caspar Escher (1859–1929), Zürich;
Thence by family descent.