The delightful little oil on canvas, depicting a still life of depicting a Chinese blue and white ginger jar and a split coconut showing its interior, the whole on a dark ground to a green table cloth, being unsigned and unframed and surviving from the late nineteenth century in untouched condition.
Unknown.
Coconut and ginger have been used in many dishes and healing traditions throughout history, including in Jamaica, Indonesia, and Ayurveda. Back in the late 1800s imported tropical fruit like pineapples and bananas were most popular, but the coconut hadn’t really taken off yet. This was mostly because they were hard to transport without spoiling and because people didn’t really know what to do with them once they had them in their kitchens. In 1895 factories started to shred and dry the coconut meat which single handedly put coconut into the hands of homemakers and commercial bakers, thus by the early 1900’s, when this was painted, recipes including coconut were plentiful.
Utterly charming and scarcely seen subject matter, especially for all the foodies out there.
The painting is apparently unsigned and has some wear to its surface with a slight layer of craquelure but no holes, loss or damage. There are two small areas which have been cleaned as photographed.
By appointment only.
