Artwork
Still life of fruit and flowers
Still life of fruit and flowers is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Clara Peeters. It dates from 1613 and is held in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting measures 64 cm in height by 89 cm in width and entered the Ashmolean Museum's collection through the bequest of Daisy Linda Ward in 1939.
The work is an oil painting created by Clara Peeters in 1613, executed in her characteristic still-life manner. The composition brings together a carefully arranged assortment of fruit, flowers, and household objects, rendered with the fine, descriptive brushwork for which the artist is known. The painting measures 64 cm in height by 89 cm in width and entered the Ashmolean Museum's collection through the bequest of Daisy Linda Ward in 1939.
History & Provenance
Clara Peeters executed this oil painting in 1613. The work entered the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, through a bequest from Daisy Linda Ward in 1939; prior to the donation it was owned by Theodore William Holzapfel Ward. While some records broadly date the artist's activity between about 1608 and 1621, the specific inception year for this composition is established as 1613.
The painting is recorded under accession number WA1940.2.61, and no documented exhibition history beyond its display at the Ashmolean is noted in the available sources.
Context
Clara Peeters's Still life of fruit and flowers (1613) exemplifies the early Baroque fascination with opulent, meticulously arranged tablescapes. The oil measures 64 × 89 cm and entered the Ashmolean Museum through the bequest of Daisy Linda Ward in 1939. Its composition, combining fruit, flowers, and tableware, reflects the genre's interest in material abundance and transience, a theme examined by scholars of Flemish still-life painting of the period.
The work is situated within Peeters's broader oeuvre of banquet and still-life scenes, highlighting her role in the development of the carefully composed arrangements characteristic of the seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish markets.
Overview
Clara Peeters's Still life of fruit and flowers, completed in 1613, is an oil painting on copper. This work exemplifies the artist's specialization in still life subjects, a genre she pursued as a professional painter during the early 17th century. The piece is currently housed in the Ashmolean Museum, offering insight into Flemish art of the Dutch Golden Age.
Subject & Meaning
The composition features a substantial basket filled with apples and pears, positioned centrally. In front, a plate of food and a glass of wine are arranged. To the left, a vase holds a vibrant bouquet of pink and white flowers, while a large cluster of grapes balances the right side. A pitcher, identified with the style of Jan Steen, is also present, contributing to the domestic scene.
Artist & collection
Artist
Clara Peeters (Dutch pronunciation: ; fl. 1607–1676) was a Flemish still-life painter from Antwerp who worked in both the Spanish Netherlands and Dutch Republic. Peeters is the best-known female Flemish artist of this…
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