Artwork
Breakfast Still Life with a Ham and a Basket of Cheese
Breakfast Still Life with a Ham and a Basket of Cheese is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter Claesz. It dates from 1627 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a breakfast still life featuring a ham, a basket of cheese, a knife, and a white tablecloth.
The painting depicts a breakfast still life featuring a ham, a basket of cheese, a knife, and a white tablecloth. Dated 1627, it is an oil-on-panel work measuring 55.25 cm in height and 92.71 cm in width. Classified as a still life, the composition places these items on a table surface.
The work is held in the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The artist is Pieter Claesz.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1627, this still life by Pieter Claesz is an oil painting created on a wooden panel support. The work measures 55.25 cm in height and 92.71 cm in width, presenting a horizontal format typical of the genre. The composition features a realistic arrangement of everyday objects, specifically depicting cheese, a knife, and a tablecloth.
As a product of the Dutch Golden Age, the piece utilizes oil paint to achieve the detailed textures and lighting effects characteristic of Claesz's breakfast pieces.
History & Provenance
The still life titled Breakfast Still Life with a Ham and a Basket of Cheese was created by Pieter Claesz in 1627. Executed in oil paint on a panel support, the work measures 55.25 cm in height and 92.71 cm in width. The painting features depictions of cheese, a knife, and a tablecloth.
Current holdings of the work include the Yale University Art Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, where it is part of the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. A version or related work is also associated with the Gebruder Douwes collection.
The painting is held jointly by the Yale University Art Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as a shared object within the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection, with Gebrüder Douwes also listed among its associated collections. No inventory or accession numbers are recorded in the available sources.
No exhibition history is documented in the provided sources.
Overview
Pieter Claesz’s oil painting Breakfast Still Life with a Ham and a Basket of Cheese, dated 1627, is a modestly sized composition that presents a domestic breakfast scene. The work is part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and exemplifies the Dutch still‑life tradition of the early seventeenth century.
Context
Created during the Dutch Golden Age, the work aligns with a broader movement that celebrated domestic interiors and the abundance of the Republic’s trade networks. Claesz’s focus on ordinary fare, rendered with careful observation, mirrors contemporary cultural values that prized modesty, prosperity, and the visual study of material objects.
Artist & collection
