Jacob van Hulsdonck

The prime still life painting studio in Middelburg was that of Flemish émigré Ambrosius Bosschaert.

[3] The following year he married Maria la Hoes and moved into the house that remained his residence for the rest of his life.

[5] Jacob van Hulsdonck was the teacher of his son Gillis who later worked for a long period as a still life painter in Amsterdam.

[1] Jacob van Hulsdonck was a still life painter of banquet style pieces, fruit bowls and flowers.

[3] Whereas 17th-century still lifes are usually believed to convey a hidden ‘message’, often related to the vanitas motif of the transience of all things, in van Hulsdonck's works this seems to have been largely absent.

[4] The banquet pieces of van Hulsdonck typically depict one bowl or basket of fruit in the center.

[4] Van Hulsdonck also painted pure flower still lifes although they account for a much smaller portion of his oeuvre.

For instance, the work Still life of tulips, carnations, a rose and other flowers in a glass beaker resting on a wooded ledge (sold at Sotheby's on 3 July 2013 in London, lot 23) was previously attributed to Jan van Kessel the Elder.