Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten
1670
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Still Life with Ostrich Egg Cup and the Whitfield Heirlooms is a 1670 oil by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, a Baroque work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a still life with luxury items like an ostrich egg cup and a lidded agate cup. The items are made from rare materials. The agate cup has detailed silver mounts. The other cup is overturned, showing its mother-of-pearl lining. This setup shows the artist's skill in arranging valuable objects. Check out the work of Pieter Gerritsz. van Roestraeten to learn more about his style.
Trained in the Dutch Republic before making his career in London, Pieter van Roestraeten specialized in compositions populated with luxury goods crafted from rare, imported materials like those seen here. On the right stands a lidded agate cup with detailed silver mounts, counterbalanced to the left of the grouping by another cup, which has been overturned to reveal its mother-of-pearl lining. A piece of valuable and versatile coral, sourced from the coasts of Italy and France, dangles over the front edge of the table. The central item in this still life, the ostrich egg cup, is in the…
Possibly John Whitfield, Canterbury (died 1691), based on the inclusion in the painting of the ostrich egg cup mentioned in Whitfield’s will. Possibly by descent in the Whitfield family. Sold, Sotheby’s, London, 15 December, 1976, no. 130. Paris, Loudmer, Hôtel Drouot, June 30, 1993, no. 21. Sold. Phillips, London [according to the catalogue of the 2008 Christie’s sale cited below]; Philip Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham, London; his sale, Christie’s, London, 25 November, 2008, no. 55, in a single lot with the Whitfield cup (2009.113), a silver-gilt mounted ostrich egg cup and cover, which is…
New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World, Feb. 15-May 27; Norwich, England, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, June 23-Sept. 23, 2018, cat. 9 (ill).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten or Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraeten (21 April 1630 – 10 July 1700) was a Dutch painter of still lifes, in particular floral and vanitas still lifes.
See the richer artist page
