Pears and marasca cherries in a basket, apricots and cherries in a porcelain bowl with pears and figs on a plate, carnations in a glass vase with a parrot, flowers and a sprig of pear on a partly-draped table

Josefa de Óbidos was trained in Coimbra by her father, the Portuguese artist, Baltazar Gomes Figueria (1597-1674) and then settled in Óbidos with her family in 1653. The formal qualities and ideology of her works are closely related to contemporary Spanish painting of the period. This is particularly the case with her still lifes, which are influenced by Zurbarán, though frequently enlivened - as is apparent in the present picture - with the inclusion of scattered springs of flowers, ribbons and bows, all rendered in minute detail and displaying an exuberant sense of colour and rhythm. For a similar, though less ornate painting also depicting a parrot on a wooden perch, see that sold in these Rooms, 29 May 1992, lot 327.