In Tate Britain
Walk Through British Art: 1650
Free entry- Artist
- Edward Collier active 1662–1708
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 838 x 1079 mm
frame: 1004 x 1242 x 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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Features
-
Still Life with a Volume of Wither’s ‘Emblemes’ 1696: By Edward Collier
Read technical information about this painting resulting from examination and scientific analysis by conservators and conservation scientists at Tate
Explore
- objects(23,378)
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- clothing and personal items(5,986)
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- jewellery(96)
- fine arts and music(3,744)
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- instrument, lute(40)
- instrument, stringed(32)
- instrument, wind(9)
- sheet music(41)
- silverware(4)
- food and drink(978)
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- drink, wine(58)
- fruit - non-specific(163)
- kitchen(648)
- reading, writing, printed matter(5,151)
- vessels and containers(2,162)
- birth to death(1,449)
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- mortality(50)
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