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Still Life with Stoneware Jug, Wine Glass, Herring, and Bread
Still Life with Stoneware Jug, Wine Glass, Herring, and Bread

Still Life with Stoneware Jug, Wine Glass, Herring, and Bread

Pieter Claesz. (Dutch, about 1597–1660)
1642
Medium/TechniqueOil on panel
Dimensions29.8 x 35.8 cm (11 3/4 x 14 1/8 in.)
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Edward Wheelwright
Accession number13.458
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Description
Claesz. specialized in the monochrome “breakfast piece,” a type of still life that presents the makings of a modest meal, primarily in related shades of muted green, gray, and brown. He usually approached his subject from a low vantage point, created a sense of depth by overlapping objects and blurring the edges of those farther back. Knife handles often project over the edge of the table, extending the composition into the viewer’s own space; this device also creates a sense of instability that plays against the careful and harmonious arrangement of objects on the table.
InscriptionsCenter right: PC (monogram) / 1642ProvenanceEdward Wheelwright (b. 1824 - d. 1900), Boston; by inheritance to his widow, Isaphene Moore Luyster Wheelwright (b. 1831 - d. 1907), Boston; 1913, bequest of Mrs. Edward Wheelwright to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 3, 1913)