A trompe l'oeil still life with a bird in a cage, a hunting horn, bird-whistle, and other hunting implements hanging on a wall

The The Hague born painter Johannes Leemans - who was also a wine merchant - is famous for 'trompe l'oeils' hunting still lifes like the present picture. Together with his elder brother Anthonie, he developed this specialised genre for the bourgeois hunting market, focused only on the hunting gear, as if it is hanging ready for use. These still lifes offer a good insight into the equipment that was being used in the second half of the 17th century. The hunting horn, game pouch and powder-flasks are all standard sporting paraphernalia used in the Low Countries and northern Germany. The cage most probably holds a kestrel, a small type of hunting bird and member of the falcon genus.

Leemans' paintings date between 1664 and 1686, when this theme was popular among collectors and fellow-painters, such as Cornelius Biltius. A very similar composition by Johannes Leemans was recently sold with Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 5 May 2009, lot 74 (Euro 144,750).