Lot 186: Tobias Stranover (Sibu 1684-after 1731 London)

Tobias Stranover (Sibu 1684-after 1731 London) Roses, carnations, morning glories and flowers in a parcel-gilt vase, a nautilus shell goblet, a parcel-gilt two handled cup and porringer, strawberries on a tazza with other utensils with a green parrot and chaffinch on a partly draped stone ledge signed 'T. Stranover f', (lower left) oil on canvas 54 7/8 x 46 3/8 in. (149.6 x 117.7 cm.) in an English 18th century carved giltwood frame

149.6 x 117.7 cm.

18th century

with Simon Dickinson, London.

Stranover was born in Sibiu, the wine-growing capital of central Romania, situated in the northern foothills of the Transylvanian Alps. He travelled to Hamburg and Dresden and finally settled in England, where he married Elizabeth Bogdani, the daughter of the painter Jakob Bogdani. Bogdani, who had arrived in England in 1684, studied many exotic species of bird in Admiral George Churchill's aviary at Windsor, as well as from stuffed models in his own studio. Repeated use of the same fruits and bird species in the two artists' pictures suggests close collaboration on a number of occasions, or perhaps even a shared studio. Bogdani left all his bird models, with his house and contents at Finchley, to Stranover and his wife in his will dated 18 September 1723.