Lot 518: BARTHOLOMEUS ASSTEYN DORDRECHT 1607 - 1667/77

signed and dated lower left on the ledge: B. Asseteijn. / 1667.

oil on panel

50 by 62.8 cm.; 19 5/8 by 24 3/8 in.

L.J. Bol, "Bartholomeus Assetijn, Dordts schilder van blommen en fruyten", in Oud Holland, vol. LXVII, 1953, pp. 138, 147, no. 22.

Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Fred. Muller & Co., 25-28 April/ 1-2 May 1944, lot 47;
There purchased by Bierig, Hamburg;
Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, Amsterdam (inv. no. 2197), by November 1945;
Their sale, Amsterdam, Fred. Muller & Co., 20 October 1952, lot 504.

Dated works by Assteyn exist between 1628 and 1667; the present work being his last known dated work. Assteyn's style is strongly influenced by the tradition of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder and Balthasar van der Ast, but in his later years he developed a more personal style, particularly characterised by softer outlines and more muted tonalities.