A fine 19th-century English school still life depicting a bountiful array of delicious fruit. What can you see? Grapes, strawberries, plums, a peach, an apple, maybe a damson?

The painting dates to the mid-19th-century and it’s close in style to the work of English painter, George Clare (1835-1890). It has previously been attributed to his hand and I’ve written an article on the similarities. Clare had an unusual technique that involved short stippled brushmarks to capture nature’s finer details. You can see the effect here, particularly in the background foliage.

George Clare exhibited at the Royal Academy on multiple occasions and also at the British Institution and Royal Society of British Artists. He hailed from Barnet, Hertfordshire but spent many years in Birmingham.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 18” x 14” / 46cm x 36cm
Year of creation: c. 1860
Provenance: USA
Condition: Two patches on the reverse following its restoration - probably at J Davey & Sons in the 1960s. Repairs to the paint layer as part of the same restoration. Minor losses around the periphery due to its frame.