Artwork
Still Life with Crab and Fruit
Still Life with Crab and Fruit is an oil painting. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Nationalmuseum. The oil painting presents a tabletop draped in a white linen, upon which a large crab with its claws splayed dominates the composition.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Still Life with Crab and Fruit is a still life composition centered on a spread of food and tableware arranged on a draped surface.
Still Life with Crab and Fruit is a still life composition centered on a spread of food and tableware arranged on a draped surface. The depicted objects include a Jan Steen pitcher, a berkemeyer glass, assorted fruit such as peach, grape, and berry, a loaf of bread, a crab, a knife, a tablecloth, and a piece of Kraak porcelain. The crab, fruit, and bread together form a classic Dutch still life vocabulary, while the inclusion of a peeled fruit alongside a knife often carried connotations of the transience of earthly pleasures.
The Kraak porcelain and finely worked glass vessels reflect the seventeenth-century Dutch fascination with imported luxury wares and the play of light on reflective surfaces.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1650, this still life is rendered in oil paint on an oak panel support. The work measures 60 cm in height and 84.5 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition arranges a dense collection of objects including a crab, various fruits such as peaches and grapes, bread, and a tablecloth.
Specific vessels depicted include a Jan Steen pitcher, a berkemeyer, and Kraak porcelain, alongside a knife. The painting is identified as a work after Abraham Susenier or Pieter Claesz.
History & Provenance
The painting was created circa 1650, as indicated by the Nationalmuseum's records. It entered the Swedish Nationalmuseum through the donation of Edvard Björkman. The museum identifies the support as an oak panel measuring 60 cm in height and 84.5 cm in width, and classifies the work as an oil painting on panel.
It is held in the collection of the Nationalmuseum as part of the Edvard Björkman donation. The provided sources do not contain information regarding a specific exhibition history for this artwork.
Context
The work is classified as a still life painting created in 1650 in oil on oak panel, reflecting the Dutch Golden Age interest in arrangements of food and luxury objects, as documented in its Nationalmuseum collection record. Depicted items such as Kraak porcelain and finely worked glass served as markers of affluence, while the composition demonstrates the period's attention to texture and the play of light. The inclusion of imported porcelain and a crab links the piece to the broader European interest in naturalia and global trade during the seventeenth century. The painting is recorded as a work after Abraham Susenier or Pieter Claesz.
Legacy
The painting's composition influenced Dutch Golden Age still life artists, particularly in the depiction of marine subjects alongside fruit and tableware. Its integration of exotic elements like Kraak porcelain and specific crab species established a motif later adopted by 18th-century Dutch painters. The work is part of Nationalmuseum's collection following the Edvard Björkmans donation, ensuring ongoing scholarly attention to its compositional innovations within the still life genre.
Overview
The oil painting presents a tabletop draped in a white linen, upon which a large crab with its claws splayed dominates the composition. Around it lie a handful of small apples, a pear, a lemon, a silver two‑handled pitcher leaning against a glass, and a bowl filled with grapes and assorted berries. A warm, unadorned background isolates the arrangement, emphasizing the tactile qualities of the objects.
Artist & collection
