Still life with pewter chamber pot – Marjolein van den Berg, c. 2011

A still life with a pewter chamber pot, an excavated find from Amsterdam, on a white cloth and a wooden table against a dark background. The dents and corrosion of the pewter are painted exactly as the piece came out of the ground. Painted in acrylic on canvas by Marjolein van den Berg, c. 2011, as part of her series of still lifes with pewter and archaeological finds. Marjolein van den Berg (Ursem, 1971) trained at the Tekenacademie and the Grafische school in Amsterdam (1987–1992) and then spent many years painting trompe-l’oeil murals and large panels in private homes, on walls and ceilings – painting that makes you feel you could walk straight through the wall. As a child she was already searching for ‘hidden treasure’, and she has kept doing so with a metal detector. Around 2011 she painted a series of still lifes with pewter and archaeological finds: her own finds, those of her detecting friends – many from spoil soil from historic town centres, including Amsterdam – and pieces from the collection of pewter dealer Jan Beekhuizen. The series was shown at his art and antiques gallery on the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat in Amsterdam, alongside the selling exhibition Pewter Ware 19. She works exclusively in acrylic; the colour palette and the remarkable fall of light, with the dark mood of the 17th-century masters, are characteristic of her work. The work suits a classic or antique interior, but works just as well as a contrast in a calm, modern or rustic setting, and will appeal directly to collectors of antique pewter, archaeology and excavated finds. Dimensions (with frame): 51.8 cm wide X 41.8 cm high X 3.2 cm deep. Technique: acrylic on canvas, hand-painted. Artist: Marjolein van den Berg, the Netherlands, c. 2011.