Lot Essay
Although the discoloured varnish obscures the paint surface, the present lot deserves comparison with and seems very similar to the 'Still life of shells' in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, which is generally accepted as the work of Van der Ast. The Wadsworth panel is of almost identical measurements and like the present lot, is also unsigned.
Although shells often occur as subsidary elements in Van der Ast's oeuvre, in only five still lifes, apart from the Wadsworth picture, do they appear as single motif (Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Sale Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 9 May 1952, lot 81, with ill.; Mauritshuis, The Hague; Groninger Museum, Groningen; formerly in the Séménov Collection, Saint Petersburg, 1906 (L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty, 1980, pp. 79/80, nos. 78, 80, 81, 82 and 83)). In addition, the still life in the Gemäldegalerie Dresden (Katalog der ausgestellten Werke, 1992, p. 100, inv.no. 1257, with ill.) could also be judged as a pure shell still life.
As pointed out in De Wereld binnen handbereik, exhibition catalogue Amsterdams Historisch Museum 1992, p. 199, circa 1600 shells became a highly sought after collector's item and the subject of speculation (Roemer Visscher satirised the new hysteria in his Sinnepoppen). Stimulated by the ever growing findings of the sailors of the Dutch East and West India companies, collectors placed them in special study cabinets. Middelburg, as the main centre for the East India Company, was known for its shell collectors at the beginning of the 17th century. Both Ambrosius Bosschaert I and Balthasar van der Ast must have been able to study at first hand the shell collections.
The shells have been identified by R. Moolenbeek of the Zoological Museum of the University of Amsterdam as (from left to right):
Chicoreus cf brevifrons - West Indian Murex
Melongena melongena - West Indian Crown Conch
Turbo species - Turban shell
Terebra maculata - Marlinspike
Lambis truncata - Seba's Spider Conch
Melongena melongena - West Indian Crown Conch
Tridacna maxima - Elongate Giant Clam
Cittarium pica - West Indian Top
Chiroreus ramosus - Ramose Murex
Charonia tritonus - Trumpet tiron (twice)
Lambis chiragra - Chiragra Spider Conch
Turbo marmoratus - Great Green Turban
Strombus gigas - Pink Conch
See colour illustration
Although shells often occur as subsidary elements in Van der Ast's oeuvre, in only five still lifes, apart from the Wadsworth picture, do they appear as single motif (Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Sale Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 9 May 1952, lot 81, with ill.; Mauritshuis, The Hague; Groninger Museum, Groningen; formerly in the Séménov Collection, Saint Petersburg, 1906 (L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty, 1980, pp. 79/80, nos. 78, 80, 81, 82 and 83)). In addition, the still life in the Gemäldegalerie Dresden (Katalog der ausgestellten Werke, 1992, p. 100, inv.no. 1257, with ill.) could also be judged as a pure shell still life.
As pointed out in De Wereld binnen handbereik, exhibition catalogue Amsterdams Historisch Museum 1992, p. 199, circa 1600 shells became a highly sought after collector's item and the subject of speculation (Roemer Visscher satirised the new hysteria in his Sinnepoppen). Stimulated by the ever growing findings of the sailors of the Dutch East and West India companies, collectors placed them in special study cabinets. Middelburg, as the main centre for the East India Company, was known for its shell collectors at the beginning of the 17th century. Both Ambrosius Bosschaert I and Balthasar van der Ast must have been able to study at first hand the shell collections.
The shells have been identified by R. Moolenbeek of the Zoological Museum of the University of Amsterdam as (from left to right):
Chicoreus cf brevifrons - West Indian Murex
Melongena melongena - West Indian Crown Conch
Turbo species - Turban shell
Terebra maculata - Marlinspike
Lambis truncata - Seba's Spider Conch
Melongena melongena - West Indian Crown Conch
Tridacna maxima - Elongate Giant Clam
Cittarium pica - West Indian Top
Chiroreus ramosus - Ramose Murex
Charonia tritonus - Trumpet tiron (twice)
Lambis chiragra - Chiragra Spider Conch
Turbo marmoratus - Great Green Turban
Strombus gigas - Pink Conch
See colour illustration