Artwork
Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls
Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls is a paint painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Osias Beert. It dates from 1608 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The pairing of cherries and strawberries carried conventional meanings tied to seasonal abundance and the pleasures of the senses.
Osias Beert's 1608 copper painting arranges a modest banquet of fruit and tableware on a tabletop: cherries and strawberries served in Chinese porcelain bowls, accompanied by a wine glass and a goblet holder. The presence of Kraak porcelain, a prized East Asian export ware, situates the scene within the early seventeenth-century fascination with imported luxury goods in the Low Countries.
The pairing of cherries and strawberries carried conventional meanings tied to seasonal abundance and the pleasures of the senses. Both fruits were standard emblems of summer ripeness in Flemish still life, and their vivid colors against the white porcelain emphasized the painter's skill at rendering varied textures. The inclusion of a wine glass and goblet holder extends the theme from natural bounty to cultivated hospitality, suggesting a shared table rather than solitary display.
Together, the objects compose a quiet meditation on wealth, transience, and sensory delight, hallmarks of the early Antwerp still-life tradition to which Beert belonged.
Technique & Style
Osias Beert's Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls is executed in paint on a copper support, a technique well suited to the smooth, enamel-like finish characteristic of early seventeenth-century Flemish still-life painting. The copper ground allowed for meticulous detail and a luminous surface, enabling the precise rendering of the depicted objects, wine glasses, a goblet holder, Kraak porcelain, strawberries, and cherries.
The composition measures 49.5 cm in height by 65.2 cm in width, adopting a horizontal format that accommodates the arrangement of vessels and fruit. Stylistically, the work belongs to the still-life genre, presenting carefully observed tableware and produce with the restrained, descriptive approach associated with Beert's early production.
History & Provenance
Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls is attributed to Osias Beert and dated to 1608. The work was created on copper support and falls within the still life genre. It is housed in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it has been part of the collection since its acquisition.
The painting measures 49.5 cm in height and 65.2 cm in width. Its provenance traces to the Matthiesen Gallery before entering the museum's holdings.
Still-Life with Cherries and Strawberries in China Bowls, painted by Osias Beert in 1608 on copper, is held in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. According to its collection record, the work is also associated with the Matthiesen Gallery. The painting measures 49.5 cm in height by 65.2 cm in width.
No exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
Created in 1608, this copper painting by Osias Beert presents a meticulously arranged tabletop scene. The composition features two Kraak porcelain bowls filled with vivid cherries and strawberries, a loaf of bread, a plate of plums, and three glasses, one holding a dark liquid, another clear, and a golden goblet holder. The work is part of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin collection.
Context
The inclusion of Kraak porcelain bowls, imported Chinese wares popular in the Dutch and Flemish markets, signals the global trade networks of the period. Such objects were status symbols, and their depiction alongside locally sourced fruit reflects the intersection of domestic life and international commerce in early modern Antwerp.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Osias Beert or Osias Beert the Elder (c. 1580 – 1623) was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp who played an important role in the early development of flower and "breakfast"-type still lifes as independent genres in…
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