Jan Jansz. Treck, 'Still Life with a Pewter Flagon and Two Ming Bowls', 1651
About the work
Overview
Here Jan Jansz. Treck has risen to the challenge of evoking the lustre of and distorted reflections in silver, pewter, glass, porcelain and eggshells as well as the complex shadows in a crumpled linen cloth. It was a highly valued skill in Dutch still-life painting and this rather beautiful example of the genre has a particularly calm aesthetic.
The overall colour scheme is muted, dominated by greys, greens and browns – only the bright red berries stand out. To our eyes, the selection of objects also seems quite mundane: it’s the aftermath of a meal, where the plates, dishes, and a flagon have been temporarily pushed to one side, together with a discarded napkin. But the two blue and white dishes are not normal domestic tableware. They are very expensive late Ming-period Chinese porcelain. These were exotic and highly desirable goods, and this painting is a celebration of luxury.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Still Life with a Pewter Flagon and Two Ming Bowls
- Artist
- Jan Jansz. Treck
- Artist dates
- 1605/6 - 1652
- Date made
- 1651
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 76.5 × 63.8 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1931
- Inventory number
- NG4562
- Location
- Room 25
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Dutch Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2010In the Presence of Things: Four Centuries of European Still-Life Painting Part One: 17th - 18th CenturiesFundação Calouste Gulbenkian12 February 2010 - 2 May 2010
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2014Making ColourThe National Gallery (London)18 June 2014 - 7 September 2014
Bibliography
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1931Arthur Tooth and Sons, An Exhibition of Still-Life and and Flower Paintings by 17th and 18th-Century Dutch Masters (exh. cat. Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd, 1 January - 31 January 1931), London 1931
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1932National Gallery, National Gallery: Trafalgar Square and Millbank Directors' Reports, 1931, London 1932
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1976C. Brown, Art in Seventeenth Century Holland (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 September - 12 December 1976), London 1976
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1982L.J. Bol, Hollandische Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts nahe den grossen Meisten, 2nd edn, Munich 1982
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1988C. Grimm, Stilleben: Die niederländischen und deutschen Meister, Stuttgart 1988
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1988J. Mills and R. White, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XII, 1988, pp. 78-9
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1988S. Segal and W.B. Jordan, A Prosperous Past: The Sumptuous Still Life in the Netherlands 1600- 1700 (exh. cat.exh. cat. Museum Het Prinsenhof, 1 July - 4 September 1988), The Hague 1988
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
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1995E. Gemar-Koeltzsch, Holländische Stillebenmaler im 17. Jahrhundert, Lingen 1995
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.