In the XVII century in Holland, many artists created still lifes, and in their environment there was a specialization: one depicted flowers, the other – dishes, the third – musical instruments. Willem Klas Heda wrote the same type of still lifes for several decades, at least they date from both 1631 and 1651.
For such a long time of work in one genre, artists achieved an impressive perfection in the technique of transferring fruits, vegetables, textiles, metal and glass items, water in glasses. Still lifes with food were called “onbijtjes”. The demand for such still-lifes was very large.
In the early 1630s, Heda began to write them, using the rather conservative canons of his contemporaries – Floris Cles van Dyck and Nicolaes Gillis. He also has a table strictly parallel to the plane of the picture, that is, the back wall of the room. Nevertheless, the artist made a certain revival in the composition of his still lifes. So, the white tablecloth is not covered by the whole table, but only by a part. Thus, he avoids the monotony of the background.
Noteworthy is the long-standing predilection of Head to the same subjects. A cup, a glass, a glass, a Damascus blade, a pocket watch with an open lid and a strikingly precisely drawn out mechanism are all reproduced with unquestionable love.
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