A Vase of Flowers

This panel is one of only two indisputable works by Haverman known to survive and the only one to bear a date. The other picture Flowers in a Glass Vase (Fredensborg Castle Denmark) appears to have been painted a little earlier to judge from comparisons with works by Haverman's teacher Jan van Huysum. In the New York painting a tall bouquet of flowers fills a gray stone niche. The footed pot evidently of terra-cotta is cast in high relief with the back of a putto seen in the center and the leonine head of a man (crowned by a bumblebee) extending to the right. A peach and bunches of green and purple grapes rest on the stone ledge or pedestal their surfaces covered with moisture and explored by a couple of ants. Flowers of many kinds are gathered around the slightly curved ascent of pink and white blooms in the center of the composition. They include roses carnations hollyhocks irises marigolds passionflowers primulas poppies and tulips (the striped one at top center features waterdrops a moth and a fly). A butterfly is perched on a leaf to the right and a snail makes its way up the large leaf at lower left which is a showpiece of fragile topography with waterdrops and small areas of discoloration adding to the visual interest. On the whole the still life is masterful in design and description but a bit stale and uniform in execution when compared with similar works by Van Huysum. His suggestions of volume light and atmosphere are not quite equaled here although Haverman (who was probably in her twenties at the time) comes impressively close. Similarly her handling of precise detail is extraordinary rather than astonishing and somewhat dry. The bluish color of some leaves which makes an artificial impression was probably toned down originally by yellow lake now faded. In sales of 1869 and earlier this painting was accompanied by an unsigned pendant of similar design but with a bird's nest.