Lot 13: Petrus Willebeeck (active Antwerp c.1632 - after 1652)

Petrus Willebeeck (active Antwerp c.1632 - after 1652)
A swag of lemons, plums, cherries, redcurrants, a fig, an orange, and other fruit, with a butterfly
signed 'PETRUS. WILLEBEECK.' (lower right)
oil on panel
19 x 24¾ in. (48.3 x 62.9 cm.)

Union des Artistes, Gantois, 17 March 1889, no. 26 (according to an old label on the reverse).

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
Recorded in the archives of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1632 as a pupil of Eduart Snayers, Willebeeck became Master in his own right in 1647. The delicately rendered fruit and meticulously observed details, such as the butterfly, reveal the strong influence of Jan Davidsz. de Heem who had settled in Antwerp by 1635.