deem-data/ArtiFact huggingface dataset:
Looking Glass
Object type: looking glass
Date: 1829 – 1835
Materials: gesso, glass
Culture: american
Location: united states
Artist: isaac platt
Artist role: maker
Artist nationality: american
Artist dates: 1793 – 1875

In the design of this looking glass, sculptural fleur-de-lis corner brackets are accompanied by repeating Neoclassical bands and acanthus-like motifs to frame an impressive length of mirrored plate glass. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, large glasses aided in the amplification of sun- and lamplight within a room. They were often placed either horizontally over fireplaces or vertically between windows. This looking glass, one of a pair (see 1979.393.1), bears some stylistic and construction similarities to labeled examples from the shop of Isaac L. Platt, a looking-glass manufacturer and retailer active from 1815 to 1843 on Broadway in New York City.
Mlle. Carmen, Paris, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes
Object type: photograph
Date: 1888 – 1888
Techniques: albumen silver print
Artist: allen & ginter
Artist role: publisher
Artist nationality: american
Subjects: portraits,women,actresses

Trade cards from the "Actors and Actresses" series (N45, Type 1), issued ca. 1888 by Allen & Ginter to promote Virginia Brights, Dixie, Our Little Beauties and Opera Puffs Cigarettes.
Coffee cup (part of a service)
Object type: coffee cup
Date: 1780 – 1790
Materials: soft paste porcelain
Artist: caughley factory
Artist role: factory
Artist nationality: british
Artist dates: 1772 – 1799
Veüe de la Maison des Vielles femmes Regardant vers l'Amstel par dedans / Gezigt van 't Besjes-huys, aan den Binnen-Amstel
Object type: print
Date: 1740 – 1740
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving, etching
Location: amsterdam
Artist: hendrik de leth
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker, publisher
Artist dates: 1703 – 1766
Subjects: bridge in city across river, canal, etc. (+ city(-scape) with figures, staffage), ships (in general), canals, waters (in city) (+ city(-scape) with figures, staffage), old-people's home
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 1641b

Rechtsonder gemerkt: D. Onderwerpsrubriek binnen de Atlas Amsterdam: Armwezen en liefdadige instellingen: II. Kerkelijke inrichtingen: Diaconie Oude Mannen- en Vrouwenhuis der Ned. Herv. Gem.
Post-mortem Portrait of a Woman
Object type: cassette
Date: 1845 – 1855
Techniques: daguerreotype
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: historical persons not known by name - bb - woman, historical persons not known by name - bb - woman (+ death-portrait)

The practice of post-mortem photography in the 19th-century was a way of immortalizing the deceased on their deathbed. It kept a beloved dead person close by for a while longer. Particularly daguerreotypy, also known as mirror with a memory, yielded an almost tangible likeness. The little case was opened and the loved one was still there, nearby, and almost touchable.
Portret van Christoph Raimund Schifflin
Object type: print
Date: 1715 – 1715
Materials: paper
Techniques: mezzotint
Location: augsburg
Artist: bernhard vogel
Artist role: draughtsman, painter, print maker
Artist dates: 1683 – 1737
Subjects: historical persons, armorial bearing, heraldry
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228
Gezelschap rond een tafel bij nacht
Object type: boekillustratie ontwerp
Date: 1890 – 1936
Materials: paint, ink, paper
Techniques: brush, pen
Artist: frans lazarom
Artist role: draughtsman
Artist dates: 1880 – 1936
Subjects: family group, especially parents with their child(ren), candle, night
Inscriptions: :, annotation: ‘nachtvisite’, collector's mark: Lugt 2228, signature: ‘F Lazarom’

Een gezelschap bestaande uit vier vrouwen en drie kinderen staat rond een tafel bij een schoorsteenmantel in het donker. Op de tafel staan kopjes en brandt een kaars. Eén van de vrouwen houdt een brandende kaars omhoog.
Terracotta fragment of a kylix: Cassel cup (drinking cup)
Object type: kylix fragment
Date: 575 – 551
Materials: terracotta
Culture: greek, attic

Exterior, bent legs and feet of a draped, semi-reclining male to right; below, a chain of pomegranates
Académie a Genève
Object type: photograph
Date: 1880 – 1920
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: albumen print
Location: geneva
Subjects: university building, college
Ferdinand IV, King of the Two Sicilies
Object type: print
Date: 1785 – 1789
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Location: london
Subjects: ferdinand i (koning der beide siciliën), historical persons, king
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Prent mogelijk uit een editie van The New London Magazine, 1785-1789.
Christ among the Doctors
Object type: painting
Date: 1400 – 1429
Materials: gold, paint, wood
Artist: spanish (catalan) painter
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: spanish
Subjects: men,women,reading,christ,virgin mary,joseph
Sheep
Object type: drawing
Date: 1878 – 1878
Materials: gouache, graphite, paper
Techniques: dyeing
Culture: american
Artist: winslow homer
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: american
Artist dates: 1836 – 1910
Subjects: sheep
Study in the Nude for The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer
Object type: statue
Materials: bronze
Artist: edgar degas
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: french
Artist dates: 1834 – 1917
Subjects: dancers

Upon Degas's death in 1917, more than 150 figurative sculptures were found in his studio. Most were made of fragile wax, clay, and plastiline (a wax- and oil-based modeling material). Many had deteriorated. Only a few were preserved in copies that had been cast from them in plaster. Except for the wax Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (Washington: NGA) none of these sculptures had been publicly exhibited during the artist’s lifetime. Although Degas had not favored reproducing his sculptures in more permanent materials, his heirs authorized that copies be cast in bronze in order to preserve the compositions and to sell them as finished works. Paul-Albert Bartholomé, a sculptor and Degas's longtime friend, prepared 72 of the figures for casting, a process executed by the distinguished Paris foundry A.-A. Hébrard et Cie. The quality of the Degas bronzes was tightly controlled and their edition was limited. Only twenty-two editions of the series of 72 figures were cast. Each bronze within the series was assigned a number from one to seventy-two. The first twenty editions were assigned a letter from A-T. In most cases these numbers and letters were incised on the individual bronzes. The series of 72 bronzes was completed before May 1921 when it was exhibited in Paris. Edition A, comprising the first and best casts of the series, was reserved for the important Impressionist collector Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer. She later acquired the first bronze cast of the Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (lettered A, but not numbered), which had been omitted from the initial series. In 1929 Mrs. Havemeyer bequeathed Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer and 70 of the 72 Edition A Degas bronzes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Optocht van de Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht te Amsterdam
Object type: photomechanical print
Date: 1910 – 1910
Materials: paper
Techniques: letterpress printing
Location: amsterdam
Subjects: political demonstration, political enfranchisement of women, women's liberation
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 1641b

Onderwerpsrubriek binnen de Atlas Amsterdam: Kaarten kiesdistricten.
Man steekt een pijp aan
Object type: print
Date: 1641 – 1664
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Artist: cornelis pietersz. bega
Artist role: draughtsman, painter, print maker
Artist dates: 1631 – 1664
Subjects: pipe ~ tobacco, candle

Prent maakt mogelijk deel uit van een serie van 200 prenten. Deze serie is onder de titel 'A Collection of two hundred original etchings' voor het eerst uitgegeven door J.M. Greery in 1816.
Design for Landau, No. 3044
Object type: drawing
Date: 1874 – 1874
Materials: gouache, gum arabic, ink, watercolor
Techniques: pen
Artist: brewster & co.
Artist role: manufacturer
Artist nationality: american
Subjects: carriages

Brewster & Company History Established in 1810 by James Brewster (1788–1866) in New Haven, Connecticut, Brewster & Company, specialized in the manufacture of fine carriages. The founder opened a New York showroom in 1827 at 53-54 Broad Street, and the company flourished under generations of family leadership. Expansion necessitated moves around lower Manhattan, with name changes reflecting shifts of management–James Brewster & Sons operated at 25 Canal Street, James Brewster Sons at 396 Broadway, and Brewster of Broome Street was based at 372 & 374 Broome Street with a repository (showroom) on 14th Street & Fifth Avenue. By 1874, Brewster & Company had 400 employees and combined warehouse and factory facilities at 47th & 48th Streets and Broadway. Brewster successfully branched out to produce their own automobiles, as well as supplying bodies for Rolls Royce at their Long Island City location. Notable clientele included Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, August Belmont, J.P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor, Andrew J. Cassatt (brother of artist Mary Cassatt), William Rockefeller, Henry Clay Frick and Pierre Lorillard. Talented draftsmen employed by the firm included Paul Steinbeck, Herman Stahmer and John Gribbon, the latter teaching at the Carriage Builders and Designers Technical School, which opened in 1880 and was housed initially at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When the company finally dissolved in 1923, its last owner William Brewster (1866–1949) donated its archive of design and presentation drawings to the Museum where he served as benefactor and trustee. Of all American carriage manufacturers, none was as highly regarded for design, finish and quality as Brewster & Company. They won many awards for outstanding workmanship, including the Legion d’Honneur (Legion of Honor) at the 1878 Paris Exposition (3rd World’s Fair). In appreciation for this achievement the Carriage Builders’ National Association presented them with a gold enameled Tiffany & Company plaque and autograph book signed by leading American carriage builders, both now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Merri Ferrell, 2016
Tekst
Object type: page
Date: 1804 – 1804
Materials: paper
Techniques: woodcut
Location: edo
Artist: kitagawa utamaro
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1753 – 1806

Zevende en achtste tekstpagina van deel twee van Utamaro`s boek: Gebeurtenissen in de lusthuizen gedurende het jaar.
Doos
Object type: box
Date: 1700 – 1800
Materials: wood, paint

Doosje van buxushout in de vorm van een leeuw waarbij een draak en een engel die een wapenschild vasthouden waarop een gekroonde adelaar en twee leeuwen (Arnhem?). In de deksel een spiegeltje.
Salome bespiedt de onthoofding van Johannes de Doper
Object type: print
Date: 1873 – 1890
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving, etching
Subjects: salome (not in biblical context), dish, plate, saucer
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228, inscription: ‘1e Etat’
Portret van een man en een vrouw
Object type: photograph
Date: 1880 – 1920
Materials: cardboard, paper, photographic support
Techniques: collodion silver print
Location: netherlands
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: historical persons - bb - woman, historical persons
Inscriptions: name: ‘fam. [R]uykman’
Fay Templeton, from the Actresses and Celebrities series (N60, Type 2) promoting Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products
Object type: photograph
Date: 1887 – 1887
Techniques: albumen silver print
Artist: allen & ginter
Artist role: publisher
Artist nationality: american
Subjects: portraits,women,actresses

Trade cards from the "Actresses and Celebrities" series (N60), issued in 1887 to promote Little Beauties Cigarettes distributed by Allen & Ginter. There are two types of cards in the set. Type 1 cards have the brand name printed on front and Type 2 cards do not.
Ontwerp voor een pendule
Object type: design drawing
Date: 1830 – 1834
Materials: graphite, ink, paper
Techniques: pen
Location: france
Subjects: clock
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘N° 299’, inscription: ‘N° 67 f.l.2.1834’

Ontwerp voor een pendule bekroond met een personificatie van Bellona en twee zeewezens gezeten op dolfijnen.
Still Life with Fish
Object type: painting
Date: 1625 – 1675
Materials: canvas, oil
Artist: a. van doeff
Artist role: painter
Subjects: fishes, still life of related objects, foodstuffs; still life of foodstuffs
Inscriptions: signature: ‘ADoeff’

Visstilleven. Op tafel liggen een kabeljauw, een krab op een vergiet, mosselen en een geek. Een inktvis hangt aan een haak aan de muur, op een ton liggen enkele haringen.
St. Petersbourg
Object type: cabinet photograph
Date: 1850 – 1900
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: albumen print
Location: sint-petersburg
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: church (exterior)
Tekstblad bij de spotprent op de begrafenis van Daniël Raap, 1754
Object type: text sheet
Date: 1754 – 1754
Materials: paper
Techniques: letterpress printing
Location: northern netherlands
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: handelaar, daniël raap
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228

tekstblad behorend bij de spotprent op de begrafenis van de koopman en Orangist Daniël Raap op 15 januari 1754 te Amsteredam. Op de voorzijde een vers, op de achterzijde een verklaring van de nummers 1-33 in de voorstelling.
Amor en drie putti
Object type: print
Date: 1501 – 1580
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Location: italy
Subjects: apollo pursuing the nymph daphne (as yet not metamorphosed), (story of) cupid, amor (eros), cupids: 'amores', 'amoretti', 'putti'
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 240

Amor, met een pijl in zijn rechterhand, wordt opgehouden door drie gevleugelde putti. Op de voorgrond liggen een boog en een pijlenkoker. Op de achtergrond een landschap met Apollo en Daphne.
Portret van Willem II, koning der Nederlanden
Object type: print
Date: 1810 – 1836
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving, etching
Subjects: william ii of the netherlands

De hier vermelde titel verwijst naar de hoogst verkregen titel van de geportretteerde, niet per se naar de titel die de geportretteerde op deze voorstelling draagt.
Bidkleed, z.g. kolommen-bidkleed
Object type: oriental rug
Date: 1850 – 1900
Materials: wool
Techniques: ghiordes knot
Location: konya
Artist: Anonymous

Bidkleed, z.g. kolommen-bidkleed. Middenveld: terracotta mihrab met driehoekige trapgeveltop, waarin een grote anjelier in wit hantgt en in het midden een blauwe rozet en strooigoed staan. Vier witte kolommen omgeven twee blauwe zijnissen. De zwikken zijn wit. Randen: drievoudig. Een vrij smalle hoofdrand in bruin-zwart met losse kleurige rozetten is gevat in twee gelijke zomen van terracotta met S-ssen. Baard: onderaan een fletsrode en bovenaan een geel, blauw, terra en fletsrood gestreepte baard, resp. 5 en 8 cm breed. wit, blauw, oranje en bruin, binnen effen biezen.
Perspectiefoefening
Object type: sketchbook leaf
Date: 1813 – 1813
Materials: ink, paper, pencil
Techniques: pen
Artist: jonkvrouw catharina kemper
Artist role: draughtsman
Artist dates: 1801 – 1871
Subjects: mathematical perspective

Blad 18 recto uit een schetsboek met 91 bladen.
Le monde renversé / De verkeerde wereld
Object type: print
Date: 1833 – 1856
Materials: paper
Techniques: colour, letterpress printing
Location: turnhout
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: 'mundus inversus', the reversed world, the topsy-turvy world, 'le monde bestourné', animals acting as human beings
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2760

Blad met 16 voorstellingen over de verkeerde wereld, waar onder andere dieren zich als mensen gedragen. Onder elke voorstelling een tweeregelig vers in het Nederlands en in het Frans. Genummerd midden boven: N. 36.
Het praalgraf van Prins Willem te Delft, ca. 1625
Object type: history print
Date: 1865 – 1870
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Location: netherlands
Subjects: delft, william i (prince of orange), piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture, grave-building, monumental tomb

Het praalgraf van prins Willem van Oranje in de Nieuwe Kerk te Delft, voltooid in 1623. Onderdeel van de groep staalgravures naar de schilderijen van de Historische Galerij der Maatschappij Arti et Amicitiae.
Double moon flask
Object type: moon flask
Date: 1870 – 1879
Materials: bone china
Artist: worcester factory
Artist role: maker
Artist nationality: british
Artist dates: 1751 – 2008
Netsuke of Horse
Object type: netsuke
Date: 1801 – 1900
Materials: ivory
Culture: japanese
Subjects: horses
Terracotta fragment of a stemless kylix (drinking cup)
Object type: stemless kylix fragment
Date: 600 – 401
Materials: terracotta
Culture: greek, attic

Black glazed fragment from the bowl of a stemless kylix, with part of the foot; the outer edge of the foot is profiled and reserved; the resting surface is reserved, the inner wall of the foot is glazed; the underside has miltos
Orvieto - Duomo - Orfeo all' Inferno. Dalle "Georgiche" di Virgilio, lib. IV - v. 417-484 (Signorelli)
Object type: reproduction
Date: 1910 – 1930
Materials: cardboard
Techniques: photograph
Location: terni
Subjects: church (exterior), picture, painting
Inscriptions: collector's mark: ‘AFE v S’
Terracotta statuette of a veiled dancer
Object type: statuette of a woman
Date: 300 – 201
Materials: terracotta
Culture: greek
Subjects: women,dancers

This statuette is of similar scale and related type to the bronze veiled and masked dancer in the adjoining Hellenistic Treasury (1972.118.95), but it lacks the exquisite detail of the bronze.
Bed met de bruid van Christus
Object type: print
Date: 1643 – 1643
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Location: amsterdam
Subjects: fortitude, 'fortitudo' ~ one of the four cardinal virtues, 'ecclesia' as bride of christ (the lamb), 'ecclesia sponsa dei', 'sponsus-sponsa', song of solomon, song of songs (with book chapter:verse) (+ christ bearded), the judgement of solomon (1 kings 3:16-28), justice, 'justitia'; 'giustitia divina' (ripa) ~ one of the four cardinal virtues, prudence, 'prudentia'; 'prudenza' (ripa) ~ one of the four cardinal virtues, caryatids ~ architecture, bed with tester, forethought, deliberation; 'previdenza', 'providenza' (ripa), groups of persons from the old testament

De bruid van Christus (de kerk) in een bed met een baldakijn. Het baldakijn wordt gedragen door de kardinale deugden. Op het voeteneind een voorstelling van het oordeel van Salomo. Boven het hoofd van de bruid Christus in een wolk. Rond het bed figuren uit het Oude Testament. Op de achtergrond door een deuropening is de bruid van Christus te zien die in de stad op zoek is naar haar lief. Onder de voorstelling een verwijzing in het Latijn naar de Bijbeltekst in Hoogl. 3:1. Deze prent maakt deel uit van een album.
Dasslip van naaldkant met candelabre-motieven
Object type: dasslip
Date: 1690 – 1709
Materials: linen
Techniques: flat venetian

Dasslip van naturelkleurige naaldkant: platte Venetiaanse kant of point de France. Op een grove zeshoekige maasgrond staat een decor van vijf symmetrische en zeer ijle candelabre-motieven, die verbonden worden door vertakte spiraalranken, waaraan miniatuur palmetbloemen en knoppen staan. Aan drie zijden afgewerkt met afwisselend grote en kleine driehoekige bogen.
Country Village, archers in the foreground from Multifariarum casularum ruriumque lineamenta curiose ad vivum expressa
Object type: print
Date: 1559 – 1561
Techniques: etching
Artist: johannes van doetecum i
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: netherlandish
Artist dates: 1528 – 1605
Subjects: human figures,houses,villages
Portret van een onbekende Cisterciënzermonnik in Staoueli
Object type: photograph
Date: 1855 – 1885
Materials: cardboard, paper
Techniques: albumen print
Location: staoueli
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: monk(s), friar(s), anonymous historical person portrayed, monastic orders, monastic life: cistercians
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘Photographie’, inscription: ‘1,50’
Caracalla / Hypocrate / ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛOYΣ
Object type: print
Date: 1809 – 1839
Materials: paper
Techniques: lithograph
Location: antwerp
Artist: mattheus ignatius van bree
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker
Artist dates: 1773 – 1839
Subjects: aristotle, (story of) hippocrates, (story of) caracalla, the roman emperor
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228
Kuwana: Ferryboats at Shichiri (Kuwana, Shichiri no watashibune), no. 43 from the series "Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations (Gojusan tsugi meisho zue)," also known as the Vertical Tokaido
Object type: print
Date: 1855 – 1855
Materials: paper
Techniques: printing block, woodblock print
Location: japan
Artist: utagawa hiroshige 歌川 広重
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: japanese
Artist dates: 1797 – 1858
Gezicht op de Kazankathedraal in Sint-Petersburg met een monument voor veldmaarschalk Michail Koetoezov ervoor
Object type: stereograph
Date: 1860 – 1880
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: albumen print
Location: sint-petersburg
Artist: alfred lorens
Artist role: fotograaf
Artist dates: 1830 – 1896
Subjects: church (exterior), monument, statue
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘St. Petersburg, Kasanskerk en beeld [....]’, name: ‘PHOTOGRAPHIE A.LORENS PERSPT.DE NEVSK. NO 5 ST PETERSBOURG.’, number: ‘6. 5.’
Portret van prinses Juliana
Object type: photograph
Date: 1937 – 1937
Materials: photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: the hague
Artist: franz ziegler
Artist role: fotograaf
Artist dates: 1893 – 1939
Subjects: juliana of the netherlands, crown princess, historical persons
Inscriptions: number: ‘60.’, inscription: ‘D. Drost & Zoon/ Koffie - Thee/ AMSTERDAM/ AMSTEL 306/ Telefoon 37114/ Opgericht Ao, 1829’
Battersea Morn
Object type: print
Date: 1877 – 1877
Materials: ink, paper
Techniques: drypoint
Location: united states
Artist: james mcneill whistler
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: american
Artist dates: 1834 – 1903
Ornamentele vazen uit de collectie van Guillaume du Tillot
Object type: album leaf
Date: 1764 – 1764
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Location: parma
Artist: benigno bossi
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1727 – 1792
Subjects: vase ~ ornament, satyr(s) (in general)

Grote vaas, staande op een muur met landschap op de achtergrond. De vaas heeft vier oren, waarvan er drie zichtbaar zijn. Op de oren zitten saters. No. 8 uit serie van 31. Prent maakt deel uit van een album. Gedrukt recto rechtsboven: 8.
Minerva en de zeven vrije kunsten
Object type: print
Date: 1623 – 1681
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Subjects: 'geometria' (~ quadrivium); 'geometria' (ripa)
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 847a, collector's mark: Lugt 2228, collector's mark: Lugt 919ter
Natuurschoon
Object type: album leaf
Date: 1930 – 1939
Materials: paper, photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: dutch east indies
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: landscapes in tropical and sub-tropical regions, dutch east indies, the
Inscriptions: annotation: ‘Natuurschoon’

Zwart albumblad met vier foto's van natuurgezichten in Nederlands-Indië, waarschijnlijk op Celebes. Op een foto zijn enkele fraters te zien. Onderdeel van het losbladig fotoalbum over de Fraters van Tilburg op Celebes en Sumatra.
Wine, Cheese, and Fruit
Object type: painting
Date: 1857 – 1857
Materials: canvas, oil
Location: pennsylvania
Artist: john f. francis
Artist nationality: american
Artist dates: 1808 – 1886
Subjects: still life, dining, drinking
Inscriptions: Signed, lower right: "J. F. Francis/ Pt. 1857"

Succulent grapes, crumbling cheese, sparkling wine in elegant glasses, and cognac in tumblers are depicted in this opulent dessert picture by John Francis. Originally an itinerant portrait painter, Francis turned to still life in the mid-19th century when the availability of daguerreotype portraits rendered his trade obsolete. The penchant for household embellishment among the Victorian middle class created a lively market for still-life paintings, which were often hung in dining rooms. While spirits are featured prominently in this painting, the glasses that are less than half full and the presence of the water indicate balance and restraint, referring to the mid-century growth of the temperance movement, which promoted the ideals of moderation and self-control.