Willem Claesz. Heda, 'Still Life with a Lobster', 1650-9
About the work
Overview
Although apparently casually displayed, the objects in this still life would immediately have suggested wealth and extravagance to a seventeenth-century viewer. The cloths have a satin-like sheen, and the objects on them are all expensive luxuries. They‘re carefully chosen, not just because they are rare and precious but because they proudly show how Dutch merchants brought exotic items from far-flung parts of the globe.
They also demonstrate Heda’s skills in painting textures and objects projecting out of the picture towards us in subtle, rich colours. Embroidered onto the tablecloth is a cipher that seems to refer to a merchants’ guild, perhaps implying that the painting was commissioned by such a company. The handsome red lobster with the beady eye, placed with such prominence, suggests a connection with the sea as the source of their wealth.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Still Life with a Lobster
- Artist
- Willem Claesz. Heda
- Artist dates
- 1594 - 1680
- Date made
- 1650-9
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 114 × 103 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Frederick John Nettlefold, 1947
- Inventory number
- NG5787
- Location
- Room 23
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 18th-century French 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
-
2020Masterpieces from the National Gallery, LondonThe National Museum of Western Art18 June 2020 - 18 October 2020The National Museum of Art3 November 2020 - 31 January 2021
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2021Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery of Australia5 March 2021 - 14 June 2021
Bibliography
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1955The National Gallery, The National Gallery: 1938 - 1954, London 1955
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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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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1997J.I. Israel, 'Adjusting to Hard Times: Dutch Art During Its Period of Crisis and Restructuring (c. 1621 - c. 1645)', Art History, XX/3, 1997, pp. 449-76
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1998L. Whetstone, The Art of Eating (exh. cat. Bolton Art Gallery, 1998), Bolton 1998
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1999National Gallery, Great Dutch Paintings (exh. cat. Southampton City Art Gallery, 16 April - 13 June 1999; Leeds City Art Gallery, 23 June - 29 August 1999), London 1999
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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.