Advanced Search 
Still Life with Meat and a Basket of Cheese
Pieter Claesz. (Dutch, about 1597–1660)
about 1627
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
55.2 x 92.7 cm (21 3/4 x 36 1/2 in.)
Framed: 69.9 x 107 x 7.6 cm (27 1/2 x 42 1/8 x 3 in.)
Framed: 69.9 x 107 x 7.6 cm (27 1/2 x 42 1/8 x 3 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession Number2021.715
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In the 17th century, this work would have been called a “breakfast piece” (ontbijtje), as it features food and objects connected with eating and drinking. Bread, cheese, ham, and mustard were common Dutch products, but the blue-and-white porcelain dishes were imported from China. Here Claesz displays his virtuosity by distinguishing among the textures and colors of glass, pewter, cheese, wicker, porcelain, and wine.
Provenance1931, Arthur Tooth and Sons, London. 1931, Ribbius Peletier (dealer), London [see note 1]. 1933, J. Schlichter, London. John Mitchell (dealer), London [see note 2]. 1936 until at least 1938, Douwes Fine Art, London. 1939, B. Brenninkmeyer, London [see note 3]. By 1955, Private collection, Hilversum, Netherlands [see note 4]. 2009, Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA; 2021, gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 15, 2021)
NOTES:
[1] According to the RKD online image database (no. 500). Possibly Gerlacus Ribbius Peletier (b. 1887 – d. 1969).
[2] Provenance from 1931 to 1936 is taken from Pieter Biesboer, et. al., Pieter Claesz: Master of Haarlem Still Life (Zwolle, 2004), cat. 10 and Martina Brunner-Bulst, Pieter Claesz. Der Hauptmeister des Haarlemer Stillebens im 17. Jahrhundert (Lingen, 2004), cat. 21.
[3] According to N. R. A. Vroom, De Schilders van het Monochrome Banketje (Amsterdam, 1945), p. 198, cat. no. 26, this painting was with Douwes, then with B. Brenninckmeyer, London, in 1939.
[4] Lent to Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Jubileumtentoonstelling (Amsterdam, 1955), cat. no. 12.
NOTES:
[1] According to the RKD online image database (no. 500). Possibly Gerlacus Ribbius Peletier (b. 1887 – d. 1969).
[2] Provenance from 1931 to 1936 is taken from Pieter Biesboer, et. al., Pieter Claesz: Master of Haarlem Still Life (Zwolle, 2004), cat. 10 and Martina Brunner-Bulst, Pieter Claesz. Der Hauptmeister des Haarlemer Stillebens im 17. Jahrhundert (Lingen, 2004), cat. 21.
[3] According to N. R. A. Vroom, De Schilders van het Monochrome Banketje (Amsterdam, 1945), p. 198, cat. no. 26, this painting was with Douwes, then with B. Brenninckmeyer, London, in 1939.
[4] Lent to Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Jubileumtentoonstelling (Amsterdam, 1955), cat. no. 12.