Jan Steen, 'An Interior with a Man offering an Oyster to a Woman', probably 1660-5
About the work
Overview
Centre stage, against a shadowy, mostly black-and-white background, the bright red jacket inevitably draws our eye to the young woman. She leans back – rather immodestly, a glass of wine held in her lap, knees apart, one foot up on a box – and smiles directly up at the man offering her an oyster.
This not a polite gesture of thanks for the offer of a canapé to go with her wine. In seventeenth-century Holland, the connotations would have been understood immediately. Oysters were regarded as both an aphrodisiac and a reference to female sexuality: the man’s offer is an erotic advance.
Other clues confirm the interpretation. The cat is a traditional symbol of lust, there is a curtained bed in the background and the table is supported by carvings of naked women, draped with garlands. The setting is a brothel – the woman works there.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- An Interior with a Man offering an Oyster to a Woman
- Artist
- Jan Steen
- Artist dates
- 1626 - 1679
- Date made
- probably 1660-5
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 38.1 × 31.5 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2559
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
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.
Bibliography
-
1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1980K. Braun, Alle tot nu toe bekend schilderijen van Jan Steen, Rotterdam 1980
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1987B.P.J. Broos, Meesterwerken in het Mauritshuis, Den Haag 1987
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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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1996H.P. Chapman, W.T. Kloek and A.K. Wheelock, Jan Steen: Painter and Storyteller (exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 28 April - 18 August 1996; Rijksmuseum, 21 September 1996 - 12 January 1997), Washington 1996
-
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.