Estate of Mr. and Mrs. Torres-Brontoso, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Acquired by the present owner from the above 

Please call the department at 212-606-7280 to receive the condition report prepared by Simon Parkes.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In a letter regarding this work, Judith Hansen O'Toole, CEO and Director of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania writes that German-born Severin Roesen  was "initially trained in the decorative arts tradition as a painter on porcelain, [and] Roesen developed a style that included great attention to detail and an interest in brilliant color. He has become one of the most important artists of the American still life school from the nineteenth century." O'Toole goes on to explain that: "Roesen signed only about one third of his compositions and dated even fewer. This painting is important because it carries both a signature and date. Because it was the year he arrived in New York, 1848 is the earliest date of any extant painting. Previous to the discovery of this painting, the only work dating from 1848 was Still Life: Flowers and Fruit (oil on canv🌼as, 36 x 26 inches, Corcoran Art Gallery) ...

"Evidence of the artist's hand [in the current painting] is present throughout the canvas in the precise brushwork, thinly worked oil, and careful representation of the texture and color of the fruits. It is a remarkable example dating from the artist's first year in this country when he was painting for an urban audience familiar with the long tradition fr🍬om which his work was inspired. The work he created in New York City had to hold up to that of [Johann Wilhelm] Preyer and other German and Dutch still life painters, older and more established than he. The use of the decorated urn is clearly a nod to his elders in this distinguished tradition and is just one element serving to make this a significant early work."