Pieter Claesz (1597-1661) was a Dutch still-life painter, born in Germany and active in Haarlem, where he had settled by 1617. His masterful description of objects arranged on a table exemplifies Dutch still life painting of the seventeenth century.

This composition is considered to be a mature work of the artist who specialised in this genre. It includes a variety of objects and foods which would have been familiar in Dutch middle class homes – an engraved silver goblet, pewter vessels and plates, a large ham stuck with cloves. The composition is enlivened with details such as the rumpled tablecloth, a broken glass and scattered nutshells.

Claesz had a passionate interest in light. The single light source is at the upper left side of this painting and it shines around, within and through some of the objects whose differing materials and textures he seems to paint so effortlessly.

Similar works by the artist include a version dated 1643 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.