Artwork
Still life with a salt cellar
Still life with a salt cellar is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter Claesz. It dates from 1644 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Specific items include a rummer, a table knife, a plate, and a platter, alongside foodstuffs such as bread, hazelnuts, and fish.
The work depicts a laid table arranged with various objects characteristic of the Dutch Golden Age still life tradition. Specific items include a rummer, a table knife, a plate, and a platter, alongside foodstuffs such as bread, hazelnuts, and fish. Central to the composition is the salt cellar, which shares the title with the painting.
The arrangement also features a tablecloth and drapery set against a wall. While the sources list these material elements, they do not provide explicit interpretations regarding specific iconographic meanings, symbolic allegories, or the philosophical message the arrangement represents.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1644, this still life by Pieter Claesz is an oil painting created on a wooden panel support. The work measures 52.8 centimeters in height and 44 centimeters in width. Stylistically, it belongs to the Dutch Golden Age movement, characterized by its meticulous depiction of a laid table.
The composition features a complex arrangement of objects including a salt cellar, a rummer, a table knife, a plate, and various food items such as bread, a hazelnut, and fish. These elements rest upon a draped tablecloth, demonstrating the artist's focus on rendering diverse textures like glass, metal, and fabric. The inclusion of a wall in the background provides a neutral setting that emphasizes the foreground subjects.
History & Provenance
Pieter Claesz painted Still life with a salt cellar in 1644, an oil painting on panel that exemplifies the Dutch Golden Age still-life genre. The work measures 52.8 by 44 centimeters and depicts a laid table with various objects, including a prominent salt cellar. It is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where it is recorded as part of the museum's holdings.
The work reflects the realistic rendering and compositional balance typical of Claesz's mature period. No specific inventory or accession number is documented in the available sources, and no exhibition history beyond its presence in the Rijksmuseum collection is recorded.
Context
Pieter Claesz's 1644 oil-on-panel work Still life with a salt cellar exemplifies Dutch Golden Age still-life painting, a genre he helped define through modest banquet scenes. The composition, documented in the Rijksmuseum collection, arranges a laid table with utensils, bread, fish, a hazelnut, and a prominent salt cellar, reflecting contemporary concerns with transience and material abundance. Its precise rendering of textures and careful spatial arrangement have been cited in scholarship as indicative of Claesz's influence on later Dutch painters. The painting's provenance at the Rijksmuseum underscores its significance within the museum's holdings of 17th-century Dutch art.
Overview
Still life with a salt cellar is an oil painting that presents a quiet domestic scene. It depicts various everyday items arranged on a table, including food and serving implements. The artist's focus on common objects elevates them, inviting close observation of their forms and textures.
This work exemplifies the genre of still life, capturing a moment of stillness and contemplation through its careful composition.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Still Life with Stoneware Jug, Wine Glass, Herring, and Bread
Breakfast Piece
Still Life with Herring, Wine and Bread
Still life with a fish
Breakfast
Still Life with Ewer, Vessels and Pomegranate
Still Life with a Roemer and a Watch
Breakfast Table with Blackberry Pie
Still Life with Silver Brandy Bowl, Wine Glass, Herring, and Bread