Lot 132: HARMEN VAN STEENWIJCK

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY DELFT 1612 - AFTER 1656 STILL LIFE OF FRUIT, FRESH-WATER FISH ON AN EARTHENWARE PLATTER, BIRDS AND A STONEWARE POT ALL ARRANGED ON A LEDGE signed lower right: H. Steenwyck oil on oak panel 36.2 by 49 cm.; 14 1/4 by 19 1/4 in.

Munich, Sotheby's, A selection of paintings and drawings from the Collection of F.C. Butôt, June 1989.

L. J. Bol & G. S. Keyes, Netherlandish Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of F.C. Butôt, London 1981, no. 4, p. 42, reproduced.

Arthur Kay, Glasgow; His sale, London, Christie's, 11 May 1901, lot 117, for 50 Guineas to Shepherd; Charles Sedelmeyer (Galerie Sedelmeyer), Paris; His sale, Paris, 25-28 May 1907, lot 178, for 2,000 Francs; With Galerie Julia Kraus, Paris, 1977; F.C. Butôt, Sankt Gilgen, Austria; His deceased sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 16 November 1993, lot 26, for 92,000 Guilders, where acquired by the present owner and her late husband.

Harmen Steenwyck was a pupil of his uncle, the Leiden painter David Bailly, from 1628 to 1633. His still lifes are highly distinctive, typically with Vanitas objects, fruit and fish, painted with great clarity, set against a creamy yellow or green neutral background, and usually lit from the upper left. This picture was part of the Butôt Collection formed by the legendary collector F.C. Butôt over the course of more than forty years. Focusing on the 'petits maïtres' of the 17th century from the Dutch and Flemish Schools, Butôt endeavoured to represent all the various painting genres in his collection, favouring exemplary works characteristic of each artist’s style. From his first purchase in 1937 up until the Second World War Butôt had bought only six Old Masters, however in 1950 trade in the Indonesian Tobacco market resumed, providing him with the means to begin to realise his ambition. Famously rigorous in his criteria of quality and condition, his house in the Salzkammergut in Austria which was his home for the last 25 years of his life became a mecca for collectors drawn by his remarkable collection, the breathtaking views and his cook's legendary lunches.