Lot 162: C. Nickel , Active in Holland in the second half of the 17th Century a vanitas still life with a skull, a globe, an hour glass, books, musical instruments and a compass, all arranged over a partly draped table oil on canvas

signed and dated on a sheet lower right: C Nickel / fecit 1664. oil on canvas

measurements note 77 by 98 cm.; 30 1/4 by 38 5/8 in.

E. Gemar-Koeltzsch, Holländische Stillebenmaler im 17. Jahrhundert, Lingen 1995, p. 738, cat. no. 284/1, reproduced p. 739.

With Douwes Fine Art, Amsterdam.

PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
The theme of the vanitas still life was one popularised in the Netherlands in the second half of the 17th century by such artists as Evert Collier (circa 1640-after 1706) and Adriaen Coorte (1660? - after 1707). Collier had begun painting such subjects as early as 1661 and continued to produce them in great quantity until his death; the present work, by the unrecorded artist C. Nickel, was probably inspired by Collier's example. As with all vanitas still lifes, it serves to remind the viewer of the fragility of human existence, the pocket watch and hour glass, for example, alluding to the transitory nature of life itself.