This elaborate still life represents the newly fashionable habit of drinking tea in the reign of King Charles II of England (1660-1685). The presence of the gold watch might suggest a vanitas element as it obviously symbolises the passage of time. The books are either open or shown with their clasps undone.  The inscription on the extreme right translates as The Second Book but the other inscriptions are more difficult to interpret. The boldly patterned carpet is of the type found in later 17th century Dutch paintings.  These painted carpets were not always based on existing examples but had their patterns made up from a variety of sources.  Here reading from the bottom up is a narrow outer border, followed by the wide band of floral decoration. This is followed by another narrow band of stylised decoration with the main part of the carpet consisting of an asymmetrical floral and leaf pattern. A similarly original carpet appears in a picture by Jan Verkolje of A Naval officer from circa 1680, formerly with Agnew’s, London (see Onno Ydema, Carpets and their Datings in Netherlandish Paintings 1540-1700, Amsterdam 1991, p. 111, fig. 114). The coarse weave of the canvas and the strong colours have replaced the much more subtle approach of the earlier Dutch still life paintings.

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