Johann Heinrich Feyerabend (attrib.), Pair of Biedermeier Kitchen Still Lifes

Attributed to Johann Heinrich Feyerabend (German, 1787–1845)
Pair of Kitchen Still Lifes
Early 19th Century, Gouache on Paper
A rare pair of jewel-like gouache still lifes, finely executed in the manner of Johann Heinrich Feyerabend, the German painter renowned for his meticulous cabinet pictures of domestic interiors, household implements, and culinary still lifes.
In the first composition, a group of kitchen vessels is carefully arranged on a stone ledge: a copper pan, pewter pitcher, earthenware jugs, a handled basket, a coffee grinder, eggs, and a small enamel saucepan. Each object is rendered with crisp precision, its material surface—beaten metal, glazed ceramic, worn wood—captured with minute brushwork and delicate washes of opaque colour.
The companion work depicts a complementary ensemble: a copper pot with lid, a ladle and skillet, a rustic jug, earthenware bowl, kitchen herbs and root vegetables, and a spice grinder. A single taper candle hangs at the back, lending both compositional balance and a quiet note of symbolism, recalling the vanitas tradition of Northern European still life.
Together, these paintings exemplify Feyerabend’s refined illusionism, in which humble domestic objects are elevated to works of decorative art. Their restrained palette of warm browns, copper reds, pewter greys, and muted greens belongs to the Biedermeier taste for order and intimacy, while the crisp delineation and polished surfaces echo the cross-cultural refinement of Anglo-Indian decorative sensibilities.
Medium: Gouache on paper
Presentation: Each in its original frame
Period: Early 19th century
Sheet size (sight): approx. 9 × 11 in (23 × 28 cm) each
Artist Note: Johann Heinrich Feyerabend (1787–1845), active in Frankfurt, was celebrated for his still lifes and small-scale genre interiors, painted with meticulous trompe-l’œil detail. His works were highly sought after in the Biedermeier period, where the careful depiction of domestic objects resonated with middle-class ideals of order, comfort, and refinement.