The present lot has recently been indentified by Fred Meyer as the first known still life by the artist, who is recorded as a portrait painter in Enkhuizen circa 1650. Mr. Meyer has also kindly pointed out its probable provenance, which will be discussed by Dr. R.E.O. Ekkart in a forthcoming article in the Bulletin of the Rijksmuseum. As mentioned by Ekkart (R.E.O. Ekkart, Portret van Enkhuizen in de Gouden Eeuw, 1990, pp.22 and 30/32) Ban might have been a pupil of Pieter de Grebber in Haarlem, although the influence of Dordrecht artists like Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp is apparent, as for example in the portrait of a young boy, dated 1647, formerly with the Richard Green Gallery, London, 1988 (Ekkart, op.cit, p. 32, pl.44) and as in the present lot

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