Still Life with Chinese Vase, Hazelnuts and Orange

Standing on a stone tabletop is a covered jar with some hazelnuts and an orange. The jar is a porcelain Ming vase from China. The orange has also travelled from distant lands – it is a horned sour orange used to make liqueur. The white-blue porcelain and orange citrus peel look particularly good against the dark background.

Simon Luttichuys was originally from London and settled in Amsterdam. He painted portraits of the English elite, but primarily made his name with his ornate still lifes. He additionally painted a number of more sober still lifes, of which this painting is a good example.