Follower of Abraham van Beyeren or Pieter Claesz

De Vuyst, from Belgium, sells on 24 October 2015 an "Anonymous, 17th - 18th century, possibly environment of Pieter Cornelis van Rijck" Still Life, a large work (92 by 140cm) estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

It is a very nice work, with lots of details, painted in a lively manner (less "flat" than many second-rate still lifes). I tried to identify the artist (or school) by focusing on similar details in other Flemish or Dutch still lifes, but while I found many related works, I couldn't really pinpoint one name. The most likely is Abraham van Beyeren (1620-1690), a Dutch master. The author given in the description, Pieter Cornelisz de Rijck, (1567-1637) seems less likely to me, as he seems too early for some details.

De Rijck is perhaps the artist for works like the "Rich Man and Lazarus" (pictured, now reassessed as "anonymous").

A closely related work, sold at Sotheby's as anonymous (ca. 1610), shows a copper kettle which is quite similar to the one in the work for sale. The Sotheby's is better painted, more detailed and correct, though rather posed.

The work for sale is more of a "Pronkstilleven", a still life showcasing richdom and opulence. which only became popular after 1640 (i.e. too late for Rijck and the like). Adriaen van Utrecht was the first great master of the genre, and Abraham van Beyeren perhaps the most important. Central elements, aside from rich fruits, were often a nautilus shell cup, silverware, and two things represented here as well, the "Buckelpokal" (no real English translation seems to exist, it's an elaborate golden or gilded cup on  a stem, often with a statue on top of the lid), and porcelain or delftware. Above is an example of Carstian Luyckx showing most of these elements, with on the right two Buckelpokals; and an example from Peter Willebeeck, with the pokal as central element.

Luxurious porcelain or earthenware can be seen in e.g. the above work by Jan Davidsz de Heem. The detail is from the work for sale, for comparison.

The Pokal often was rather bulbous (hence the "Buckel", German for "stud" as a rounded ornament). Abraham van Beyeren was one of the few masters of this genre to also include non-bulbous Pokals, like in the first of the above examples (the second is by Willem Kalf, from the Rijksmuseum; the third is by Pieter Claesz.). The fourth image is the Pokal from this painting, again for comparison. Sadly, I haven't found an identical one in any painting, as that would most likely seal the attribution.

Beyeren is also one of the few of these painters to use a similar copper kettle like the one in the work for sale. The above, from the Mauritshuis, again isn't the same kettle (too bad...). The second example, by Frans Ykens, also isn't quite the same thing. The third is again the one for sale...

Usually, in this paintings there is an element of the vanitas-genre, a warning that all luxury and bling-bling is only temporarily (either as a well-meant message or as a superfluous extra to appease the more conservative critics). Typical is an empty glass or roemer on its side, or a nearly-empty glass or bottle (the more in-your-face types include a skull). I haven't found another example with an empty glass with an orange (or other citrus fruit) peel in it. Many paintings feauture a nearly empty glass with the peel in it though. Typical is the bottom example by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, from the Met. Other examples can be found in the work of Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Elder. The difference in painting quality with the work for sale is obvious, but keep in mind that this is comparing a smallish detail to a full work.

Now, I haven't spent a lifetime studying these still lifes, so probably for most things I state above a better example can be found and my statements refuted: please do, I like to learn about these things. But with what I know and have found, it seems obvious that this painting is from ca. 1640-1650, not from Rijcke or someone around him, but more likely somewhere close to Abraham van Beyeren. It isn't a masterpiece, not like the Heda or Kalf I pictured, but it is a good example of this genre, the zenith of the still-life in some aspects, and should be worth a lot more than what is estimated. Compared to what many utterly boring still lifes from this period fetch, it should get 10,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 3,300 Euro, above the highest estimate but way below what I felt it should be worth.

Update from 19/10/2015. Looking at this further, another likely candidate, not for the immediate artist but for the circle, seems to be Pieter Claesz (1597-1660), a Flemish painter who was mainly active in Haarlem. This painting should be compared to his later, post-1640 work.

His works contains quite similar elements, including not-bulbous buckelpockals (example from the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meisters pictured), lidded pitchers of the same model, ...

UPDATE 29/12/2015: a reader alerted me to an art shop site, anticstore.com, where Galerie FC from Paris (sounds more like a soccer club!) offers this painting, still attributed (incorrectly in my view) as "Dutch School of the end of the 16th century, attributed to Pieter Cornelisz van Rijck or Ryck", but with a much more realistic price tag of 15,800 Euro. So it seems that I wasn't the only one believing that this painting was worth a lot more!

UPDATE 07/10/2016: still for sale at Galerie FC, now for 11,800 Euro.