Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary
1653
Painter, Flemish, 1626 - 1679

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on copper
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall: 11.5 × 14 cm (4 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)
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Accession
2018.41.1
More About this Artwork

Video: D.I.Y. Art: Clay Insects Inspired by Jan van Kessel
This miniature masterpiece is inspired by Jan van Kessel the Elder’s 1653 Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary, which features over ten insect species with impressive precision.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Private collection, Sweden, by 1934. (Richard Green, London); purchased July 1982 by Paul Mellon [1907-1999], Upperville, Virginia; by inheritance to his wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon [1910-2014], Upperville; (her estate sale, Sotheby's, New York, 10 November 2014, no. 31); (Johnny Van Haeften, Ltd., Ham, near Richmond); purchased 29 June 2018 by NGA.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1934
De Helsche en de Fluweelen Brueghel. En Hun Invloed op de Kunst in de Nederlanden, Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1934, no. 295.
1982
Exhibition of Old Master Paintings, Richard Green, London, 1982, no. 29.
Bibliography
1982
Advertisement for Richard Green's June 1982 Exhibition of Old Master Paintings, The Connoisseur (June 1982): 59. repro.
1983
Greindl, Edith. Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle. Brussels, 1983: 365, no. 3.
1990
Segal, Sam. Flowers and Nature: Netherlandish Flower Painting of Four Centuries. English translation by Ruth Koenig. Amsterdam, 1990: 209, fig. 47a.
1997
Tongiorgi Tomasi, Lucia. An Oak Spring Flora: Flower Illustration from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Time: A Selection of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon. Translated from Italian by Lisa Chien, with bibliographical descriptions by Julia Dupuis Blakely. Upperville, 1997: 106.
2003
Meijer, Fred G. Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Paintings Bequeathed by Daisy Linda Ward. Waanders, 2003: 230 n. 6.
2012
Ertz, Klaus, and Christa Nitze-Ertz. Jan van Kessel der Ältere 1626-1679, Jan van Kessel der Jüngere 1654-1708, Jan van Kessel der 'Andere' ca. 1620 - ca. 1661: kritische Kataloge der Gemälde. Lingen, 2012: 262, no. 378, repro. (with erroneous de Boer provenance).
Inscriptions
lower left: J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653
Wikidata ID
Q58690780