Artifact World Gallery
Get the iOS app

Wild Strawberries and a Carnation in a Wan-Li Bowl by Hulsdonck, Jacob van

Hulsdonck, Jacob van · c. 1620

Jacob van Hulsdonck's "Wild Strawberries and a Carnation in a Wan-Li Bowl" (c. 1620) is a jewel of Flemish still-life painting that rewards a very close look. Painted in oil on copper, a support that allowed astonishing luminous detail, the work is now held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Scan the painting from the top down. A red carnation, the era's emblem of betrothal, crowns the mound of wild strawberries. The bowl itself is Chinese Wan-Li porcelain, a luxury import that signaled wealth and global reach in early 17th-century Antwerp. The scattered cherries and loose fruit on the tabletop reinforce the idea of abundance overflowing.

But the real story sits almost out of frame. In the lower-right margin, a single strawberry is crushed and decaying. It is a vanitas detail, a memento mori, placed at the edge of all this sweetness. Hulsdonck never lets us forget that ripeness and rot are the same season.

Next time you stand before a still life, check the corners. That is often where the painter has hidden the truth.

Details

This Wan-Li bowl was a luxury import from Ming-dynasty China.
This Wan-Li bowl was a luxury import from Ming-dynasty China.
A red carnation crowns the mound: the symbol of betrothal.
A red carnation crowns the mound: the symbol of betrothal.
Everything signals abundance and sweetness.
Everything signals abundance and sweetness.
But now look at the corner. Something has been left to rot.
But now look at the corner. Something has been left to rot.
The spilled fruit breaks the bowl's containment, creating a narrative of abundance overflowing; each cherry's reflected highlight shows the copper support enabling exceptional luminosity.
The spilled fruit breaks the bowl's containment, creating a narrative of abundance overflowing; each cherry's reflected highlight shows the copper support enabling exceptional luminosity.
Transcript

A bowl of wild strawberries and a single carnation. Seventeenth-century Flemish still life. Pristine and perfect. This Wan-Li bowl was a luxury import from Ming-dynasty China. A red carnation crowns the mound: the symbol of betrothal. Everything signals abundance and sweetness. But now look at the corner. Something has been left to rot. A crushed, decaying strawberry. A memento mori pushed to the margin.