Tobias Stranover (Sibiu 1684-after 1731 London)

Tobias Stranover was the son-in-law of Jakob Bogdani, and the decorative fruit and bird paintings of the two artists are very similar in content and design. Stranover was born in Sibiu, the capital of wine-growing country in central Romania situated in the northern foothills of the Transylvanian Alps. He travelled to Hamburg and Dresden and finally settled in England, where he married Elizabeth Bogdani. Bogdani, who had arrived in England in 1684, studied many exotic species of bird in Admiral George Churchill's aviary at Windsor, as well from stuffed models in his own studio. Repeated use of the same fruits and bird species in the two artists' pictures suggests close collaboration on a number of occasions, or perhaps even a shared studio. Bogdani left all his bird models, with his house and contents at Finchley, to Stranover and his wife in his will dated 18 September 1723.