• Was a Flemish goldsmith and still life painter.
• Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Elder was born in Antwerp as the son of Laureis and Clara van Baesel.
• His father was a goldsmith and a master of the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp.
• It is not known with whom he trained to become a painter.
• He became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke as the son of a member in the guild year 1647/1648.
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In August 1648 Gillemans married Paulina Uyt den Eeckhout.
• The couple had four sons and four daughters.
• From the records of the Antwerp art dealer Forchondt for the years 1665 to 1673 it is known that Gillemans regularly provided the art dealer with fruit still lifes and garlands with herrings or lobsters for the export.
• Gillemans died in Antwerp on 12 August 1675.
• He was the teacher of his son Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Younger and Jan Frans van Son, who was the son of the prominent still life painter
Joris van Son.