Dead Game Still Life

Hi,

I'm new here and I am in the middle of doing some research on a piece I acquire locally in Ireland. It measures 18.5 cms X 16 cms. It is a still life of dead game in a pantry setting. It seems to be oil on canvas laid on panel. I think the quality is pretty good and the composition is well done. I am unable to find any signature or monogram. It could be 19th century but I believe it maybe earlier due to the panel reverse is more 17th century. Taking into account the hunting gun with short barrel leaning on the table gives me a feeling this could be around 1700 to 1730. Any suggestions to artist, country of origin and approximate date would be most welcome. Thanks for looking. Gerry

 

Hola, and welcome, Gerry. I'm confident somebody will help you here!

 

Thanks Gila, I await in anticipation.

 

1700 - 1730 would be 18th century. I understand how you came up with the date based on the gun but think that could be erroneous if someone were painting a still life with an antique gun in it. Dating based on the look of the panel could also be erroneous since dating based on looks is subjective and the painting could have been laid to an old panel at a much later date. I also am not sure that a 17th century painting such as this would typically be done on canvas.

This is certainly an old painting but without a signature, it would be hard to date without an analysis of style and/or an analysis of paint chemistry. I don't know enough about old Irish or European art in general to comment on style. I would say that such game paintings are very typical of Victorian sensibilities so think it is at least that old. Having a paint analysis probably isn't worth the cost.

The painting is certainly worth further investigation. Just don't be too quick to jump to hopeful conclusions. Your best bet would probably be to have an expert look at it in person and/or send off some detailed pics to some of the auction houses.

 

It never fails to amaze me that the Victorians would hang such paintings in the dining room, and then proceed to consume 16 course meals...

 

Gerry, welcome to the forum! Sorry, I haven't any help on dating this painting. It certainly is a remarkable piece. The title attracted my attention:

"Dead Game Still Life<

Dead game certainly is still life. Sorry couldn't resist it.

--- Susan

 

Hey... that's a painting of 'plenty'... food for the table and a variety of it. I'm not sure that it's advantageous to think that meat comes on a styrofoam platter and wrapped in saran. Before refrigeration, people had to be more pragmatic, and realistic, about where their food came from.

You wouldn't think that dead fish would make much of a painting, but this example from the Art Gallery of Ontario is spectacular in terms of composition, textures, light, and technique, and it's 5ft across:
http://artgalleryofontario.tumblr.com/post/56873460123/still-life-fish-unknown-johannes-fabritius

 

Welcome!

 

I can barely eat a 1.6 course meal!!!!

 

Could be a 17th century Flemish piece. You definitely need to contact Bonham's or Christie's about this piece. Similar ones have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Very nice.

 

Definitely would be some phlegm involved here....

 

Everyone has been very good to reply and voice their opinion. In my research still life oils featuring dead game were most popular in the mid to late 1600s and specific to the Dutch and Flemish regions of Europe eventually being copied by Italian, Spanish and French with Chardin being one of the most famous still life artists of the period. Oil on canvas laid on panel is a technique that has been used for several centuries, in fact as it is a method that is most laborious, it diminished in popularity during the 18th century where stretched canvass was preferred. That said artists to this day still use canvas laid on panel especially when depicting a work copying an old master technique. What attracted me to this work was the quality of the brush work and exquisite fine detail and I also think the composition layout is very pleasing to the eye whereas some similar still life paintings are too cluttered. I was hoping someone might be able to interpret the meaning of the pickle jar, the blood coming for the recently deceased hare's mouth, the object in the foreground. Are these symbols of death/life as one might find in a Vanitas painting from an Old master? G

 

In answer to your very last question -- yes, of course. Googling "iconography of dead game paintings" will bring up lots of information to peruse, but what would be really helpful is a list! There may be one in all that info, but my morning coffee is calling.

Since we cannot, on our computer screens, truly appreciate what you see as the "quality of the brushwork and exquisite fine detail" of this painting, I do hope you can find the right person to evaluate it.

 

Gerry,

Sounds like you have done your homework and are at the stage where you need an expert opinion. My comments were not meant to diminish the potential of your find but to temper expectations. We see over and over how people get set upon an idea about age and value of items based on unfounded assumptions. Your painting may well be 18th century but this is probably beyond the scope of what most of us here can determine. There may be some here who can help you with the symbolism. Best of luck in your quest to evaluate this nice work.

 

I'm not convinced this is more than 100 years old, these small beveled wood panel paintings were made to look older than they are and most were simply "grand tour" souvenirs after known Dutch or Flemish paintings.
If you can show a better picture in natural light of the reverse and a close-up of the paint were it is chipped in the upper left corner I might be persuaded to believe it 19th century or earlier.