Still Life with Silver-Gilt Glass Holder c. 1654 - 1660

Abraham van Beyeren painted this still life with oil on panel sometime in the mid-17th century. It's an arrangement of luxury items intended to evoke pleasure and plenty. This image is laden with the visual codes of the Dutch Golden Age. The silver-gilt glass holder and overflowing glasses imply the wealth and global trade networks that fuelled Dutch society at this time. The oyster, grapes and peaches speak to the rich harvest of the land, and the bounty that was available for purchase in the markets of Amsterdam and other cities. We might think of the guilds, merchant houses and civic institutions that made this economy possible, all of which shaped the environment for the making of art. These still lifes offer us a snapshot of social life in the Netherlands, a celebration of its ascendency, but scholars of social history know to look for the conditions of inequality and exploitation that enabled this society. Luckily, we can consult historical records, trade documents, and other archives to better understand the complex world of the 17th century Dutch Republic.