Willem Kalf, Still Life with Drinking-Horn

This still-life painting – one of the most popular genres in seventeenth-century Holland – celebrates the challenges of depicting the play of light on different surfaces and textures. Look at the way the artist has depicted the subtle highlights on the weave of the Turkish carpet, the sheen and lustre on silver and glass, the moist flesh of the lemon and waxy texture of its peel. The detail is so fine and convincing that if you look closely at the gleam of light on the rim of the left-hand glass you can even make out the reflection of a window.

But this picture is full of energy as well as detail. Look at powerful curves of the buffalo horn which sweep down from the top of the picture, and how they are countered by the arched tail of the lobster poised below. The lobster’s bright red shell and its drooping antennae confirm that it has been cooked, but the set of that tail and the menacing glint in its eye seem to suggest otherwise, adding power and tension to the composition. There are moments of stillness and serenity too, captured by the sunbeams which glow in the decanter and glasses.

These objects were not only chosen to display the painter’s virtuosity, they also celebrate a sumptuous lifestyle. Lobster was a luxury dish and lemons were rare and expensive, as were the fine glass, oriental rug and silver tableware. There’s red and white wine, adding to a sense of indulgence and plenty – a sense also reflected in rich colours, offset by the dark background.

It is a combination which is typical of what was known at the time as a ‘Pronkstilleven’ or ‘ostentatious still life’. The artist, Willem Kalf, was its most famous and successful exponent. He had been born in Rotterdam but in 1653, at the age of 34, he settled in Amsterdam. This painting was probably made just after that, when he was establishing himself as the leading still-life painter in Holland.

This work was probably commissioned by a member, or members, of the Saint Sebastian Archers’ Guild in Amsterdam. It formed part of the civic guard, which was intended to protect the city from attack but was also a sort of high-status gentlemen’s club. The connection with the guild is suggested by the intricate base of the silver mount which holds the drinking horn. It depicts the martyrdom of their patron, Saint Sebastian: he’s tied to a tree, shot with arrows and guarded by his persecutors, two Roman soldiers. At the top of the mount a lion holds a shield bearing the arms of the city of Amsterdam. The theme of archery is also echoed in the support underneath the table, which has been carved into a figure of the Roman god Cupid, famous for his arrows of love.

If it was a guild, rather than a personal, commission, it may well have hung in their headquarters, a shooting range on the Singel Canal in Amsterdam which was known as the Handboogdoelen. The building still exists.