Johannes Christianus Roedig, Dutch 1750-1802- Still life with fruit and flowers on a pewter plate and a glass of wine on a draped table; oil on panel, bears signature ‘J:D:DE:HEEM:f' (lower right), bears printed 'Thomas Baring' label on the...

Johannes Christianus Roedig,

Dutch 1750-1802-

Still life with fruit and flowers on a pewter plate and a glass of wine on a draped table;

oil on panel, bears signature ‘J:D:DE:HEEM:f' (lower right), bears printed 'Thomas Baring' label on the reverse, bears further labels on the reverses of the panel and frame, 37 x 47.8 cm.

Provenance:

[Almost certainly] William Jones of Clytha, Clytha Castle, 1790s.;

His estate sale, Christie's, London, 1852, as by Jan Davidsz. de Heem.;

Where purchased by Thomas George Baring, later 1st Earl of Northbrook (1826-1904).;

M. Bernard, by 1945 (probably the London dealer Montague Bernard).;

From whom purchased by Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, no.1246;

The Hon. Michael Langhorne Astor (1916-1980), no.141.;

Estate of the Hon. Michael Langhorne Astor sale, Sotheby's, London, 8 July 1992, lot 322, as Manner of Jan Davidsz. de Heem.;

Private Collection, UK.

Literature:

A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures Belonging to the Earl of Northbrook, 1889, no.47 (illustrated), as by Jan Davidsz. de Heem (see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_sum_of_all_paintings/Catalog/Earl_of_Northbrook_collection,_1889).;

RKD - see https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/277082.

Note:

The present work was painted after 1785. It was almost certainly purchased by William Jones of Clytha in the 1790s when he was furnishing Clytha Castle in Monmouthshire, the building of which was completed in 1790. After entering the Northbrook Collection in 1852, it most probably remained there until 1929 at least, when, after the death of Francis Baring, the 2nd Earl, it would have been amongst the numerous works sold by his widow in dispersals between 1929 and 1945. By 1945 it was with a M. Bernard who sold it to Arthur Tooth, with the work still ascribed to de Heem. Records next emerge from Sotheby’s in 1992 when it was sold as part of the estate of the Hon. Michael Langhorne Astor (who himself possibly purchased it from Arthur Tooth), where it was catalogued as 'Manner of Jan Davidsz. de Heem'. Around this time, following research by Dr Fred Meijer, it was re-ascribed and fully attributed to Roedig. The attribution is based in part on a closely related work by Roedig – also signed as by de Heem – which last appeared at Christie’s, Amsterdam, 14 November 1991, lot 166. In an extensive catalogue note to a pair of floral still life works by Roedig that sold at Bonhams, London, 9 December 2009, lot 81 (for £1,196,000) – establishing Roedig as an important if overlooked artist - Dr Meijer suggests that the present work and others are probably examples of deliberate forgeries by Roedig. Interestingly, as Dr Meijer has pointed out, the ‘forged’ paintings are clearly by Roedig and make no concentrated effort, other than the signatures, to imitate de Heem.

By the end of his career, however, Roedig had clearly emerged as a fully established and highly respected Dutch painter in his own right, with his fame extending as far as Saint Petersburg. Indeed, from correspondence between Roedig's son and the nineteenth-century art historian Adriaen van der Willigen, we know that the artist sold a large number of his works to Russia during his lifetime, which explains why so few remained in his native Holland. For example, in 1783, Count Alexander Stroganoff commissioned two paintings from the artist which he then gave to Empress Catherine the Great. The present work therefore provides a rare opportunity to acquire an example of Roedig's work of this high calibre.

Consistent with his reputational rise perhaps is the existence of examples of his paintings which are indeed signed under his own name. In addition to the Bonhams 2009 pair, see, for example, his Still life which sold at Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 1 December 2009, lot 68 (£54,750), which is strikingly similar to the present work, featuring the same halved peach and bunch of white grapes. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge owns three of his signed works. One, ‘Basket of flowers with fruit’, shares distinctive similarities with the present work, particularly in the grapes, ears of wheat and morning glory flowers (PD.41-1966).

We are grateful to Dr Fred Meijer for confirming the attribution of the present lot.
Please refer to department for condition report