The Still Life Paintings of Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680)

The still life paintings of the 17th century Dutch masters are a rich source of material for recreating many aspects of the domestic life of the period. They have no British equivalent, so it to these Dutch sources that we must turn for information about many of the things used in daily life. The Dutch were far ahead of the English in adopting new styles and ideas in all things, but Holland was a major trading partner and archaeological evidence shows that many of the artifacts we can see in Dutch paintings were also in use in England at the same time. We also get occasional glimpses of furniture, pottery, glass and pewter in English portrait paintings, and in the woodcuts used to illustrate books, and these support the idea that common English domestic implements differed little from their Dutch counterparts.

A selection of still life paintings by Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680) are used here as an introduction to the ways in which these paintings can help us to visualise some aspects of domestic life from almost four centuries ago. Heda frequently used the same objects in many paintings.

Rather than explain specific technical terms, I have provided links in the text to other web sites, many of them on the Wikipedia site. All links will open in a new browser window. You can view larger versions of the paintings that are used on the following pages at the Web Gallery of Art and at Wikipedia Commons. Clicking on any of the images in this article will link to the original larger versions on these external websites.

Breakfast with crab (1648). Dutch paintings of this period were rich in symbolism which had meaning to contemporary audiences, but which has been almost completely lost to us now. Most still life pictures celebrate the enormous wealth enjoyed by the Dutch republic but contain warnings that pleasure must not take precedence over duty to God and to our fellow beings. The overturned gilded cup in this painting may be one such reminder.

The crab is set on a simple pewter plate. The clear glass façon de Venise (Venetian style) flagon in front of the crab would be for a dressing and is in the shape of a shell, a very popular motif.

The blue and white bowl containing nuts is Kraak ware, a style of Chinese porcelain created for the European market and imported by the Dutch East Inda Company in vast quantities.

The green forest glass goblet to the right of the silver flagon is in a popular German style known as a römer (rummer). a bowl set on a thick hollow stem decorated with prunts (sometimes called knops). The short glass beaker next the the römer is of another popular German type called a nuppenbecher (knop beaker), a term widely used for any glass without a stem and having prunt decorations.

Still-life with olives (1634). The prunts on this rummer are clearly visible. They were not merely decorative but provided a firm grip on the glass in an age when food was eaten mostly with the fingers, which could consequently become very greasy.

The pewter spoon on the pie dish would have been used to scoop out the pie contents. Diners in England (and clearly in Holland too at this time) were furnished with a single knife to cut food portions into bite-sized pieces for eating with the fingers. These knives were personal items that the diners would bring to the table. They were carried in a decorated sheath hung from the belt. The knife, with a bone or ivory handle, is lying under the pewter flagon and its leather sheath, with the cap removed, is to the right of the painting, in front of the pie dish.

The body shape of the fine pewter flagon would be familiar in England but the spout appears to have been a purely Continental refinement. There was a strong export market in best quality English pewter but there is no evidence to suggest that designs were created specially for the European market, so these spouted flagons are probably of local manufacture. Today these pewter flagons with their distinctive spout are usually called Jan-Steen jugs.

Still-life with stoneware flagon (1637). Walnuts and hazelnuts no doubt had some symbolism now lost to us. They are often shown in Dutch still-life paintings. Oysters, then as now, can be seen as symbols of carnality. Objects similar to the silver cylindrical item on the right of the picture feature in most of Heda's paintings and is a ceremonial salt with a pile of salt crystals on top.

The overturned flagon is made of a very hard type of pottery called stoneware and the beautiful orange-brown speckled glaze is created by throwing salt into the high-temperature oven during the firing process. To achieve the rich colour the underglaze must have a high iron content. The majority of stoneware was manufactured in Germany and it was imported to England in large quantities. A smaller form of the flagon, with a much wider neck, was a very common type of beer mug in English inns (the pint pewter tankard did not make its appearance until the very end of the 17th century).

The popular shell motif is clearly shown here on the glass façon de Venise flagon. The two elaborate clear (cristallo) glasses are also façon de Venise.

Still-life with gilt goblet (1635). Several of these items will be familiar by now. The knop beaker, the rummer, the standing salt, the glass Venetian style shell flagon, oysters on pewter plates, a peeled lemon, and a dining knife.

Several new elements appear here. The overturned vessel is a silver tazza, a shallow bowl raised up on a tall stem and foot. Glass versions were also popular. Food presentation was an important element of formal dining and raising dishes up on tazzas enhanced the three dimensional appearance of the display.

The gilded covered cup was a ceremonial item used on important occasions, such as weddings. The very plain lidded pewter flagon, without a spout, would have been very much to the English taste, and could well be of English origin. The overturned forest glass knop beaker to the right of it is a type generally called a berkemeyer. You can find a good example and an explanation of its name at the Rijksmuseum web site.

Breakfast Table with Blackberry Pie (1631). There is a clearer view of the overturned berkemeyer glass at the left edge of the painting. The knife is shown sheathed in its embossed leather case and there is a different silver tazza.

A new feature is the table clock lying in front of the overturned tazza. Its key is dangling from a blue ribbon.

Still-life with ham and rummer (1651). The walls of the overturned beaker appear to be too thick for it to be made of silver so it is probably a pewter beaker with moulded decoration. Such decoration was not appreciated on English pewter but was very common on Continental examples. It should not be confused with the pewter wriggle-work of the later 17th century (click here to see a fine example of wriggle-work in the British Museum collection).

To the left of the rummer glass is an unusual lidded vessel of unknown purpose. It appears to have the handle of, perhaps, a spoon poking out of it.

Still Life with Pie, Silver Ewer and Crab (1658). A rich display, indeed. Notice the nautilus-shell cup and the blue and white porcelain kraak-ware bowl. Shell and bowl were probably imported by the Dutch East India Company.

The pie may not be what it seems. It has a very high glaze with a mottled surface, so it could be a ceramic version. These do feature in other Dutch works and could be 'patterns' to show the kitchen staff what the finished product should look like. There are elaborate examples showing stuffed birds sitting atop the pie.

Still-life with pewter-ware (1636). A good view of the pewter flagon with spout, of the type favoured on the Continent but not in England. A new feature is the shallow gilded bowl in front of the flagon.

Alongside the lemon on the left is what appears to be a rolled-up cone of printed paper. It would have contained pepper and is an object that appears in many of the paintings that have shellfish as an element in the composition.