Jan van Kessel (1626-1679): Keukenstilleven, olie op doek

Work: 55 x 40,5 cm

Frame: 72 x 58,5 cm

The attribution to Jan van Kessel the Elder as well as the authenticity of the (difficult to see) monogram on the edge of the table was recognized on February 13, 2023 by Dr. Liliane Huillet.

The Antwerp painter Jan van Kessel was the son of Hieronymus van Kessel (born 1578) and Paschasia Brueghel (born 1603), a daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder. He was married to Maria van Apshoven (died 1678) on 11 June 1647, with his uncle David Teniers II as witness. Furthermore, he fathered thirteen children, among whom Thomas, Anna Maria van Kessel (died 1688), who married painter Jan Baptist van Mol, the painter Ferdinand van Kessel and the painter Jan van Kessel II. He became master in the guild of Saint Luke in 1644/45 as a flower painter. However, his oeuvre is much more extensive. In 1652, he worked for the Spanish king Philip IV. (link)