Edward Collier

Still Life with a Volume of Wither’s ‘Emblemes’

1696

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Not on display

Artist: Edward Collier active 1662–1708
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 838 × 1079 mm
frame: 1004 × 1242 × 70 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1949
Reference: N05916

Display caption

In this still-life painting the musical instruments, wine and jewels represent the fleeting pleasures of life, while the skull and hour-glass symbolise the inevitability of death. The open book shows a brief poem emphasising the theme of mortality. The Latin inscription in the top left corner comes from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes: ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity’. This is why such pictures are known as vanitas paintings. Born in the Netherlands, Collier arrived in England in 1693 to produce still-life paintings like this to sell to the English market. He died in London in 1708.

Gallery label, February 2016

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Still Life with a Volume of Wither’s ‘Emblemes’ 1696 by Edward Collier

Rica Jones

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- clothing and personal items(5,879)
- - jewellery(99)
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  - silverware(4)
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