Lot 1229 | Sebastian Stoskopff | Still Life with a Shavings Box, Citrus Fruits and a Goldfinch

STOSKOPFF, SEBASTIAN
vor 1597 Straßburg - 1657 Idstein

Title: Still Life with a Shavings Box, Citrus Fruits and a Goldfinch.
Date: Ca. 1630.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 41 x 57,5cm.
Frame: Framed.
Certificate:
B. Hahn-Woernle, Esslingen 27.04.2016.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

A simple but carefully constructed shavings box with some citrus fruits next to two delicate red blossoms in a glass flower vase from which a bird is drinking. These two elements are connected by the slanted lid of the box, which is broken by the stem of a branch. No special ornamentation, no exuberant abundance or flaunted luxury. This small still life by Sebastian Stoskopf amazes us today with its clarity, calm and painterly precision.
During its period of origin, of course, the religious statements of the depiction are much more in the foreground: Birgit Hahn-Woernle refers in her expert opinion to the chip box as a symbol of the Old Testament, filled with the fruits of paradise and the red passion flowers. But she also considers an interpretation of the still life as a representation of the five senses - precisely this complexity of allusions is characteristic of Stoskopf's work.

The painter, born in Strasbourg in 1597, studied in Frankfurt and Paris. He was active in both countries; towards the end of his life he was court painter to the Nassau family in Idstein. His virtuosity is evident in his painterly treatment of various surfaces. This is particularly pronounced when a painting is dominated by a lack of ornamentation, austerity in the composition, and stillness in the composition. In the small still life with the chipboard box shown here, all these elements come together so characteristically that Birgit Hahn-Wörle can date it to his Parisian period around 1630.