"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 selected, flat oak panel, bevelled at the sides only, with one central joint that has never been reglued. This now has a line opening in the paint along the joint on the right side, although not in the wood behind. Apparent long term neglect has allowed some paint to be lost along this line, and across the right background there are patches where the paint has become powdery and brittle, with minute ridges along the grain that have also flaked. In contrast the still life itself appears if anything to have benefitted from neglect in that it is beautifully intact under dirty and darkened old varnish layers without any flaking losses. In the distant past the painting was evidently once restored, leaving even older varnish in the lower left corner, now opaque and crystallised, and probably also in the dirty crevices of the brushwork. Some old darkened dabs of retouching in the background must date from this time, as do a few similar old retouching strokes in an indented scratch on the table cloth near the right base corner. While the still life shows no sign of wear at all the background does seem possibly to have been cleaned further and the subtle shadows that are particularly vulnerable in such paintings may be a uneven or thin. The messiness of the background at present makes the condition of the glazing hard to gauge. It is the only area that has become brittle and which has a few scattered old retouchings. Elsewhere the still life is remarkably intact and apparently virtually untouched. 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."

An extremely similar composition, with only minor rearrangement of the objects, is listed by Brunner-Bulst as formerly in the collection of Edward Radczynski, Warsaw.¹

We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer for endorsing the attribution to Pieter Claesz. on the basis of photographs.

1. See M. Brunner-Bulst, Pieter Claesz., Lingen 2004, p. 293, cat. no. 156.