with inscriptions ‘f. Snijders’ (recto) and ‘Franciscus Snyders’ (verso) and ‘1 ¾ e[l]en 3 ellen’ (verso)
traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, pen and brown ink framing lines, countermark
‘M’ (?)
20.4 x 31 cm (corners cut)
Provenance:
Mme R. Blay, Paris; F. Lair-Dubreuil, Paris, 4 July 1929, lot 123.
Anon. sale, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinet, Stuttgart, 19 May 1953, lot 498, when presumably acquired by;
Dr. Walter Beck (1895-1960), Berlin (L. 2603b) by descent to;
Dr. Hans-Ulrich Beck (1930-2010), Augsburg (his mark, not in Lugt, verso) and by descent to the
previous owner.

Literature:


E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Sterrebeek, 1983 (under no. 292, as Frans Snyders).
H. Robels, Frans Snyders: Stilleben und Tiermaler 1579-1657, Munich, 1989, under Z16 (as Studio of Frans Snyders).

This swiftly executed still-life drawing, showing a richly laden table with fruit and game, was part of the
collection of Dr. Hans-Uhlrich Beck, who inherited it from his father, Dr. Walter Beck (see provenance).
The sheet was first published in 1983 as by Frans Snijders by Edit Greindl, and indeed the drawing is
close to Snijders’ drawings both in subject matter as well as in style and execution. [1]
The composition can be closely related to several of Snijders’ paintings, but it is closest to a painting
that Hella Robels dated to the 1630s, now in the Stadsmuseum Lier. [2] The close relationship
to the painting, combined with differences in many details, raises the question whether the drawing
could have been a study for that picture. Interestingly, the verso of the drawing carries a 17th century
inscription reading ‘1 ¾ e[l]en 3 ellen’. This size indication — corresponding to approximately 120 x
206 cm — most likely refers to the dimensions of a painting for which the drawing was intended as
a study. These measurements are close to those of the Lier picture, although the latter is somewhat
smaller, measuring 108 x 178 cm (though the picture appears to have been cut and was originally
probably larger).

The attribution to Snijders was, however, rejected by Robels, who attributed the drawing to the
studio of Frans Snijders. [3] The attribution of Snijders’ drawings in general is notoriously difficult due
to the fact that a number of his pupils and studio collaborators often worked in a style very close to
that of their master. Among these collaborators was Paul de Vos, who was Snijders’ brother-in-law.
De Vos’ drawn œuvre has recently been studied in detail by Charlotte Roosen in her doctoral thesis. [4]
Furthermore, she has published a group of ten drawings which are given to De Vos in Museum
Plantin-Moretus. [5] Three of these drawings are ricordi of pictures by Snijders, while the other seven
are more loosely executed and appear to have been preparatory studies for paintings.
Roosen, to whom we are grateful, has suggested that the present drawing was most likely also
executed as a study for a picture and on the basis of the loose handling of the media, she has
tentatively attributed the present drawing to Paul de Vos. [6] The sheet may be compared, for example,
to a drawing in Museum Plantin-Moretus which shows a similarly loose underdrawing. [7]
Although questions concerning both the function and authorship of this drawing - and of many
other drawings attributed to Snijders or De Vos - remain open, the present drawing constitutes a
fascinating document that opens a window onto the studio practice of one of the greatest Flemish
artists of the seventeenth century.

[1] See for example The Morgan Library & Museum, New York inv. I, 235a; I, 235b; I, 235c; I, 235d.
[2] H. Robels, op. cit., no. 72, ill.; inv. 73.
[3] Ibid., no. Z16.
[4] C. Roosen, In Lijn met de Meester: Het schetsboek van Paul de Vos (1591/92-1678) binnen de atelierpraktijk van zijn leermeester Frans Snyders (1579-1657), unpublished Master-thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), 2 vols., Leuven, 2023.
[5] C. Roosen, in From Scribble to Cartoon. Drawings from Bruegel to Rubens in Flemish Collections, exhib. cat., Antwerp, Museum Plantin-Moretus, pp. 72-75.
[6] Written communication, 18 February 2026.
[7] C. Roosen, in: From Scribble to Cartoon. Drawings from Bruegel to Rubens in Flemish Collections, exhib. cat., Antwerp, Museum Plantin-Moretus, p. 75, fig. 17D; inv. PK.OT.00142.