Cherry season is short, but in art it has lasted for centuries.
€1,662,400
Louyse Moillon (c. 1610-1696), Nature morte à la coupe de fraises, panier de cerises, branche de groseilles à maquereau (Still Life with a bowl of Strawberries, Basket of Cherries and Branch of Gooseberries), 1631, oil on panel, 36 x 50 cm/14.17 x 19.68 in.
Paris, Hôtel Drouot, March 25, 2022, Aguttes OVV.
While cherries are native to Europe, they were not cultivated and eaten there until the Middle Ages. Louis XV, who enjoyed them very much, encouraged the development of new varieties, and a red, fleshy species was named after cherry-loving Napoleon. Artists painted them to evoke Christ’s blood on the cross; they can be found in depictions of the Last Supper and the Virgin and child. Later, still life masters painted cherries for their own sake on platters or in baskets. These works were bounteous in the Dutch Golden Age and more intimate in 18th-century France.
€3,380
Émile Gallé, “Soufflé aux cerises”, multi-layered blown-molded glass vase featuring cherry-laden branches, h. 11.1 cm/4.37 in.
Paris, in-person closed-door auction, April 1, 2021, Millon OVV. Mrs. Marzet
€115,200
François Garnier (c. 1600-1672) and Louyse Moillon (1610-1696), Panier de cerises et branche d’abricots sur un entablement (Basket of cherries and branch of apricots on a table), oak panel, 36 x 47 cm/14.17 x 18.50 in.
Paris, Hôtel Drouot, June 24, 2019, Ader OVV. Cabinet Turquin
€53,750
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), Assiette de cerises (Bowl of Cherries), oil on canvas, dated July 21, 1881, 16 x 29.5 cm/6.30 x 11.61 in.
Versailles, Hôtel des ventes du Château, Osenat OVV.
€2,350
Chanel by Gripoix, pair of gilded metal clip-on earrings with glass paste cherry pendants, l. 8 cm/3.14 in., January 28, 2021
Online only, Le Brech & Associés OVV.
€1,021
Saint-Louis, paperweight decorated with two cherries, diam. 7.7 cm/3.03 in.
Paris, Hôtel Drouot, April 2, 2019, Boisgirard-Antonini OVV.
€15,360
Meissen, c. 1745, model designed by Johann Friedrich Eberlein, pair of porcelain plates with openwork edges and decoration of cherries and strawberries in relief, diam. 24 cm/9.44 in.
Paris, Hôtel Drouot, March 29, 2019, Daguerre OVV.
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