Brigadier C. Huxley, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 12 December 1947, lot 63, for £1,050 to Slatter;
With Eugene Slatter, London, 1948, no. 21;
Dr. Hans Wetzlar, Amsterdam, by 1952.

London, Eugene Slatter Gallery, Dutch and Flemish Masters, 1948, no. 21;
London, Royal Academy, Dutch Pictures, 1450-1750, Winter exhibition 1952-3, no. 134;
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, Bloemenweelde, 1953;
Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, Nederlandse Stillevens, 1954;
Laren, 1959, no. 22;
Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Bloem en tuin in de Vlaamse kunst, 1960, no. 8;
Philadelphia, Museum of Art, A world of flowers, 1963, no. 2;
Laren, 1963, no. 6;
Amsterdam, Kunsthandel Waterman, Masters of Middelburg, 1984, no. 14.

L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, p. 71, no. 15;
S. Segal, in Masters of Middelburg, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Waterman Gallery, 1984, pp. 52 and 144, no. 14, reproduced;
Voorkeuren, 1985, p. 8, reproduced in colour p. 9.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a perfectly flat oak panel, irregularly bevelled on three sides, which has clearly always been stable. The old varnish is quite dim, and opaque under UV. There are a few tiny paler retouchings in the background on the right and by some outer edges of the still life and occasionally inside, with one short crack at the centre right of the top edge, slightly slanting presumably from a knock. The base edge also has a band of retouching, with darker retouching along the back of the ledge. The signature is slightly faint. The left edge has a generalised veil of reddish retouching overlaid across much of the left background with some of the outer fronded elements in the still life lightly strengthened over it. A few other details may have been slightly reinforced also. The beautiful shells at the base and fine granular pigments in the paint of the ledge with its delicate tone, also found in the atmosphere of the background on the right, and the gentle brushwork of the still life remains well preserved, especially on the right side. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Balthasar van der Ast was the foremost follower of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, and was almost certainly his pupil in Middelburg, where his family came from; indeed Bosschaert married his elder sister in 1604.  From 1619 until 1632 he lived in Utrecht, where he almost certainly painted this flower piece.  After his removal to Utrecht, the influence of Bosschaert wanes slowly, reflecting Van der Ast's increasing independence from his master, as well as the influence of Roelant Savery, who settled there following his return from Prague.

Sam Segal dates this picture to the early 1630s, while in the catalogue of the Philadelphia exhibition, a much earlier dating to around 1620 was proposed. ൲; This is probably too early - a dating in the late 1620s or around 1630 is more likely.