(Antwerp 1579–1657)
A still life of a basket with grapes and vines, a hare, starlings, partridges and a kingfisher on a wooden ledge, a melon nearby,
oil on canvas, 76.5 x 110 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Hawes;
sale, Christie’s, New York, 11 January 1979, lot 299;
sale, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 25 November 1981, lot 432 (as Frans Snyders, according to a label on the reverse)

Literature:
E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Sterrebeek 1983, p. 387, no. 224 (as ‘oevres non signées’);
H. Robels, Frans Snyders, Stilleben- und Tiermaler 1579 – 1657, Munich 1989. p. 259, under cat. no. 122 (as workshop repetition)

The present composition is a workshop variant of the original by Frans Snyders conserved in the Rubenshuis, Antwerp (inv. no. S 133). Robels in her monograph on the master, points out the difference in the position of the wings of the dead partridges in the present work when comparing it to the Antwerp panel. Furthermore, greater attention is paid to the detailed graining of the wood which forms the table ledge in the present composition.

Frans Snyders specialised in still life and animal painting, becoming a master of the Antwerp painters’ guild in 1602. From his earliest days as an independent master, he appears to have operated an accomplished workshop in order to meet demand, as exemplified by the present work. After spending a year in Italy, where he is documented between 1608 and 1609, Snyders returned to Flanders. Influenced by Italian painting and by the work of Rubens, Snyders’ skill, both as a colourist and in his handling of diverse textures throughout his varied compositions, led to his works being prized by important patrons across Europe.