George William Sartorius
1759 - 1828
A Still Life of a Lobster, Bread, a Condiment Set and a Knife on a Stone Ledge
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Category:
Dimensions:
38(h) x 50(w) cms
Framed Dimensions:
54(h) x 69(w) cms
Signed:
Signed lower Right: 'W. Sartorius'
Exhibitions:
Essay:
While George William (often simply known as William) Sartorius is thought to be a member of the Sartorius family of sporting and animal art painters, his exact relation to them is unknown. Records of him are scarce; his middle name is only known from the occasional signed painting and his initials from the catalogues of the Free Society of Artists where exhibited from 1773 - 1779.
It is interesting to note that George William was born in the same year as John Nost Sartorius the eminent horse painter. It is also notable that John Nost's father, Francis Sartorius, was married five times, so this might account for family records regarding George William being unclear.
George William specialised in paintings of animals, and flower and fruit still lifes.
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Primarily a painter of decorative flower and fruit still lifes in the colourful French manner, Sartorius's painting of a lobster is a rare subject indeed within the artist's oeuvre. Lacking his usual pastel tones, this work derives more from the Dutch still life tradition of the 17th century. This is particularly evident in the overall darker tonality as well as specific items chosen by Sartorius, most obviously the bone-handled knife and crust of bread, common objects in Dutch banquet paintings.
Sartorius has chosen a relatively limited arrangement of five items including the lobster, as though illustrating a specific meal about to be enjoyed. The two vessels are a glass decanter perhaps containing vinegar or a spirit, and the earthenware flask has small holes in its silver cap indicating it contains something meant to be sprinkled such as salt.
Sartorius has painted the lobster's flamboyant red carapace with a meticulous attention to detail. The work calls to mind the still lifes of Charles Collins, an Irish artist working in London earlier in the 18th century who completed several still lifes with lobsters.
Fred G. Meijer has kindly confirmed the attribution to George William Sartorius on the basis of photographs.
Provenance:
Anon. sale; Lempertz, Cologne, Germany, 30 Nov. 1939, lot 45.
Private Collection, Germany.
