Lot 17: LOUISE MOILLON PARIS 1610 - 1696

oil on oak panel

STILL LIFE WITH A BASKET OF PLUMS, PEACHES, CHERRIES AND REDCURRANTS, TOGETHER WITH FRAISES-DE-BOIS IN A PORCELAIN BOWL, FIGS AND MULBERRIES ON A WOODEN LEDGE

39 by 62 cm.; 15 3/8 by 24 1/4 in.

THE PROPERTY OF A CONTINENTAL PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Dreux-Brèzé family, France;
Thence by descent in France and then Switzerland, until bought privately by the present owner.

This unpublished picture dates from around 1630, and is very similar in style to the Still life with a basket of fruit and asparagus, in the Art Institute of Chicago, which is signed and dated 1630 (see Claudia Salvi, D'après nature. La nature morte en France au XVII^e siècle, Tournai 2000, p. 53, reproduced in colour). Particularly characteristic of Moillon at around this date, to be seen in both pictures, are the cherry leaves which extend far beyond the confines of the basket. Many of Moillon's paintings, like the present example, are unsigned.