The meticulous way this picture is painted indicates how deeply influenced the artist had become by his way of painting on porcelain.  Each object is realistically depicted, but they do not relate to each other in the way of a normal still life painting of the time.  Every individual fruit and flower is designed to stand out from its neighbour without any gesture towards the fall of light.  Owing to the consistency of Steele’s style, it is not possible to suggest a date for these four works.

‍