Two young men seated at a table laden with fruits and 'pretzels' with a squirrel nearby

Details

Attributed to Gottfried Libalt (Hamburg 1610/1-1673 Vienna)
Two young men seated at a table laden with fruits and 'pretzels' with a squirrel nearby
with signature and date 'J: braij .f(?). 1659' (centre)
oil on canvas
85.3 x 106.2 cm.

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Carola van Ham, Cologne, 11-3 June 1975, lot 1093, as Joseph de Bray.
Purchased by the present owners in circa 1980.

Special notice

Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the Hammer Price of each lot sold at the following rates: 29.75% of the Hammer Price of each lot up to and including €5,000, plus 23.8% of the Hammer Price between €5,001 and €400,000, plus 14.28% of any amount in excess of €400,001. Buyer’s premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

We are grateful to Mr Fred Meijer of the RKD, The Hague, for suggesting the attribution to this German still life master, having examined the painting in person. He compares this lot to a still life with fruit that was offered at Dorotheum, Vienna, 24 March 1999, lot 54 (wrongly attributed to Agostino Verrocchio) showing the same squirrel (written communication, 17 March 2007).

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