Hendrick de Fromantiou was born in Maastricht in 1633 and is known today primarily for his floral and fruit still lifes.
Probably trained in Holland, he worked there for many years and in 1658 is recorded in The Hague. According to Arnold Houbraken the artist worked on a commission for the art dealer Gerrit Uylenburgh.
In 1670 he was appointed court painter by the Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm and later worked for his son Friedrich III. In September 1672, he married a daughter of the successful painter of hunting parties and horses Philips Wouwerman. De Fromantiou participated in a number of royal commissions that allow us to document his whereabouts: Amsterdam 1672, London 1682, Amsterdam and Gdansk 1684. He died in Berlin in circa 1694. These royal appointments would have possibly increased the monetary and aesthetic value of his paintings in the eyes of contemporary art collectors.
 

Henri de Fromantiou, Vorsteilijke illusies, Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht, March-June 2015

Coll. Eugène Slatter, London, 1954,
Coll. Part. Schloss Fuschl,
Coll. Hof bei Salzburg.

Claus Grimm, Stilleben, Stuttgart, Zurich, 1988, p. 174-175.
Lars Hendrikman, Bonnefantmuseum collectie Nederlandse en Duitse schilderkunst 1500-1800, Maastricht, 2012, p. 119.
Henri de Fromantiou, Vorstelijke illusies, cat. ex., Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht, 2015, pp. 84, 101, ill. p. 81, cat. No. 15.