STRANOVER, Tobias
(b. 1684, Nagyszeben, d. after 1731, London)

A Jay with a Basket of Strawberries

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Oil on canvas, 61 x 51 cm
Private collection

This painting depicts a jay sitting on the handle of a basket of strawberries, with a blue-tit in the foreground.

Tobias Stranover was born at Nagyszeben (Sibiu) in the northern foothills of the Transylvanian Alps in what is now Romania. He was the son-in-law of Jakab Bogdani, by whom he was taught as a painter of animals and still-lives. He was itinerant throughout Europe, visiting Hamburg and Dresden among other places before settling in England, where he stayed for the rest of his career.