Artwork
Still Life with a Ginger Pot
Still Life with a Ginger Pot is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten. It dates from 1690 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Created in 1680 by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, the composition focuses on this specific vessel, which is identified as a ginger pot in the title.
The work is a still life painting depicting a single covered beaker. Created in 1680 by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, the composition focuses on this specific vessel, which is identified as a ginger pot in the title. The subject matter is limited to this object, presented without additional figures or complex narrative elements.
As a study of a domestic container, the painting represents the artist's engagement with the still life genre, emphasizing the form and material presence of the beaker.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel, measuring 25.0 cm in height and 20.5 cm in width. The still-life depicts a covered beaker among other objects, rendered with a focus on surface texture and light. The painting originates from the 1680 date attributed to Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten and is part of the Jacques Goudstikker collection.
Formal qualities include precise brushwork that models forms and a restrained palette that emphasizes the quiet domesticity of the subject.
History & Provenance
The painting was created in 1680 by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten as an oil work on panel measuring 25 cm by 20.5 cm. It entered the collection of Jacques Goudstikker and later passed through several wartime repositories including the Führermuseum, the Munich Central Collecting Point, and the Hermann Göring Collection before being acquired by the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit and deposited at the Rijksmuseum. The work's provenance reflects its movement across European collections during the 20th century, with documented ownership linked to the Goudstikker family and their heirs.
Still Life with a Ginger Pot by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten is held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Its documented custodial history traces through multiple successive holdings, including the Jacques Goudstikker collection, the Collection Goudstikker heirs, the Hermann Göring Collection, the Führermuseum, the Munich Central Collecting Point, the Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties, and Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, before reaching the Rijksmuseum. The work was owned by Jacques Goudstikker.
No specific accession number, current gallery location within the museum, or exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Overview
Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten’s Still Life with a Ginger Pot (1690) is an oil painting that presents a modest arrangement of domestic objects against a dark backdrop. The composition centers on a sizable ginger pot with a gilded lid, accompanied by a diminutive blue vase and an oval gold medallion, each rendered with meticulous detail.
Context
Created at the close of the 17th century, the painting reflects the period’s fascination with detailed domestic scenes and the moral undertones of vanitas imagery. Though the composition is relatively simple, it aligns with contemporary trends that favored realistic depictions of everyday objects, emphasizing both their aesthetic appeal and their symbolic resonance.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten
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.
