1050 - Abraham Susenier

Abraham Susenier Still Life with a Roemer, Bread, and Oysters Oil on panel. 43 x 34.5 cm. Provenance Koninklijke Kunstzaal Kleykamp, The Hague, 19.12.1933, Lot 1 (as Abraham van Beijeren). – Collection Leendert Ringlever, Rotterdam. – His sale: Van Marle, De Sille & Baan, Rotterdam, 18–20.12.1940, Lot 1020 (as Abraham van Beijeren). – Dutch private collection since 1943/44. – German private collection. The present painting was offered in 1933 at the Koninklijke Kunstzaal Kleykamp, The Hague, and in 1940 at Van Marle, De Sille & Baan, Rotterdam, on both occasions as a work by Abraham van Beijeren. Between these two appearances on the art market it was in the collection of the Rotterdam collector Leendert Ringlever (1870–1940). The earlier attribution to Van Beijeren is understandable on iconographic grounds. Fred G. Meijer recognised the painting in 1982 as a work by Abraham Susenier. Particularly revealing is the comparison with Susenier’s 'Still Life with a Lobster, a Roemer, Oysters, Grapes and a Knife', dated to around 1660 and now in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (fig. 1; inv. no. UMFA2003.34.1), as well as with the 'Still Life with Goblet, Bread and Oysters' offered at Karl & Faber, Munich, on 21 May 2026 (lot 14; oil on panel, 35.5 × 28.5 cm), for which Meijer likewise proposed an attribution to Susenier. The recurring combination of oysters, a roemer, grapes and a knife constitutes a strikingly close constellation of motifs to the present work. It belongs to the tradition of the Dutch banquet still life shaped by Willem Claesz. Heda and Pieter Claesz. We would like to thank Dr Fred G. Meijer, Amsterdam, for the attribution of the present work to Abraham Susenier on the basis of a digital photograph. For comparative illustrations, see the printed catalogue as well as the PDF version.