{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O132376"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O132376/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BN4494/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BN4494/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BN4494","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC3246","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O132376/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O132376","accessionNumber":"1369-1869","objectType":"Oil painting","titles":[{"title":"Fruit and Flowers in a Basket","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"A wicker basket overflowing with a variety of fruit, including red and white grapes, cherries and oranges, and a few small white flowers (Jasmine?), a vine stem heavy with grapes protrudes and hangs over the edge of the cracked stone tabletop.  Jan van den Hecke (1620-1684) worked primarily in Antwerp, though he also made trips to Italy and Brussels. In Antwerp van de Hecke appears to have been greatly influenced by the style of Jan Davidsz de Heem who had settled there by 1636.In his <i>Teutsche Academie</i> published in 1675, Joachim von Sandrart, a contemporary of de Heem, reports that the artist moved to Antwerp because, 'there one can have the rare fruits including all manner of large plums, peaches, apricots, sour oranges, lemons, grapes, and other, in better quality and ripeness, (so as to) to reproduce them from life'. This painting displays rare and precious food items which often intended to Christian values: cherries for example are considered a fruit of Paradise, while grapes symbolize redemption. De Heem had a great influence on the development of Netherlandish painting during the 17th century, especially his large sumptuous still-lifes of the 1640s made a profound impression and many painters tried to imitate his work. His influence was strongest in Utrecht, Leyden and Antwerp where he had many followers. He was highly admired by his contemporaries and is still praised as one of the greatest still-life painters. Jan van den Hecke here uses the blond tonalities and protruding vine both signatures of van Heem and his followers' works. A similar broken branch protruding from the central composition is visible for example in <i>Fruits and pieces of seafood </i> of 1659 now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Although the muddy brown-grey background appears hastily painted, there was evidently careful attention given to details such as the misty bloom on the grapes and the broken branch and curling vine at lower right.","physicalDescription":"A wicker basket overflowing with a variety of fruit, including red and white grapes, cherries and oranges, and a few small white flowers (Jasmine?), a vine stem heavy with grapes protrudes and hangs over the edge of the cracked stone tabletop.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Hecke (I), Jan van den","id":"A31095"},"association":{"text":"painted by","id":"x28695"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oil paint","id":"AAT15050"},{"text":"canvas","id":"AAT14078"}],"techniques":[{"text":"oil painting","id":"AAT178684"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Oil on canvas","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[{"text":"Dutch School","id":"x31259"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2007BN4494","2017KC3246"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"OPH (LOAN)","id":"THES49946"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"oil paintings","id":"AAT33799"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1640-50s","earliest":"1635-01-01","latest":"1659-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Rev., Chauncey Hare Townshend","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"50.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimate","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"50.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimate","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from <i>Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800</i>, C.M. Kauffmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1973","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'A. Cuyp'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed on slab, lower left; the signature is false and a later addition."}],"objectHistory":"Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, 1868\r\n\r\n[Chauncy Hare Townshend]\r\nRef : Parkinson, Ronald, <u>Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860</U>.  Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990.  p.xix.\r\n\r\n'Chauncy Hare Townshend  (1798-1868)  was born into a wealthy family, only son of Henry Hare Townsend of Busbridge Hall, Godalming, Surrey.  Educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA 1821).  Succeeded to the family estates 1827, when he added 'h' to the Townsend name.  He had taken holy orders, but while he always referred to himself as 'Rev.' on the title pages of his books, he never practised his vocation... . Very much a dilettante in the eighteenth-century sense, he moved in the highest social and literary circles; a great friend of Charles Dickens (he was the dedicatee of <u>Great Expectations</u>) with whom he shared a fascination of mesmerism...  Bulwer Lytton described his life's 'Beau-deal of happiness' as 'elegant rest, travel, lots of money - and he is always ill and melancholy'.  Of the many watercolours and British and continental oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A, the majority are landscapes.  He is the first identifiable British collector of early photographs apart from the Prince Consort, particularly landscape photography, and also collected gems and geological specimens.'\n\nHistorical significance: This painting has been attributed, based on photographs only, to Jan van den Hecke by Dr. Fred Meijer (verbal communication) in February 2010. van den Hecke (1620-1684) worked primarily in Antwerp, though he also made trips to Italy and Brussels. In Antwerp van de Hecke appears to have been greatly influenced by the style of Jan Davidsz de Heem who had settled there by 1636.In his <i>Teutsche Academie</i> published in 1675, Joachim von Sandrart, a contemporary of de Heem, reports that the artist moved to Antwerp because, 'there one can have the rare fruits including all manner of large plums, peaches, apricots, sour oranges, lemons, grapes, and other, in better quality and ripeness, (so as to) to reproduce them from life'. This painting displays rare and precious food items which often intended to Christian values: cherries for example are considered a fruit of Paradise, while grapes symbolize redemption. De Heem had a great influence on the development of Netherlandish painting during the 17th century, especially his large sumptuous still-lifes of the 1640s made a profound impression and many painters tried to imitate his work. His influence was strongest in Utrecht, Leyden and Antwerp where he had many followers. He was highly admired by his contemporaries and is still praised as one of the greatest still-life painters. Jan van den Hecke here uses the blond tonalities and protruding vine both signatures of van Heem and his followers' works. A similar broken branch protruding from the central composition is visible for example in <i>Fruits and pieces of seafood </i> of 1659 now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Although the muddy brown-grey background appears hastily painted, there was evidently careful attention given to details such as the misty bloom on the grapes and the broken branch and curling vine at lower right.","historicalContext":"Flower and fruit still lifes. The flowers painted in most 17th century still lifes were items of considerable luxury and prestige.  The flowers were in bloom for only a short time.  The flowers we see depict in early flower pieces, however, did not all bloom in the same season, demonstrating that these were compositions made from studies executed when the flowers were in bloom.  The flowers painted in early still lifes were mostly exotic ones that were imported as bulbs. Often the vases in which the flowers were displayed were also luxury items. Around mid century ornamented silver vases are included, followed by bronze, stone and terracotta vessels in the 18th century and vases of cut crystal in the 19th. Flower still lifes derive in part from the symbolic role of flowers in religious paintings. Also flowers were transiency symbols because they only bloom for a short time and hence refer to themes of Vanity and Pride and the transiency of luxury articles. \r\nFruit pieces developed naturally from early 17th century still lifes depicting meals, in which fruit always played an important role.  Fruit pieces flourished after the debacle of the tulip trade around 1640.  The impulses came partly from Antwerp, where Jan Davidsz. De Heem had settled in 1635. De Heem had developed a technique that was more painterly than the usual smooth glazing techniques of his predecessors, reflecting the influence of the freer brush strokes of Jacob Van Es and Frans Snyders. De Heem combined various different painting styles in one painting using both broad brush strokes and minutely elaborated ones. In contrast, artists such as Abraham van Beyeren from The Hague painted in more fluid style.","briefDescription":"Oil painting, 'Fruit and Flowers in a Basket', Jan van den Hecke (I), ca. 1640-50s","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kauffmann, C.M., <u>Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800</u>, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 95, cat. no. 100"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Jan Davidsz. de Heem en zijn kring</u> (exh. cat. by S. Segal; Utrecht, Cent. Mus.; Brunswick, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Mus.; 1991)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Fred. G. Meijer, <u>Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-1684) : his influences and his followers.</u> London : Rafael Valls Ltd., 2005."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"I. Bergström, <u>Dutch Still-life Painting in the Seventeenth Century.</u> London, 1956."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"fruit","id":"AAT11868"},{"text":"basket","id":"AAT194498"},{"text":"grapes","id":"x30300"},{"text":"cherries","id":"x31856"},{"text":"oranges","id":"x34629"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1369-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1369","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2007-02-26","availableToBook":false}}