A ham on a pewter plate, a partly-peeled lemon, a roemer, a glass flute, a wine glass, a bowl of olives, a silver-gilt tazza, a bread roll, a knife on a pewter plate and a mustard pot on a partly-draped table

A meticulous and careful painter from his youth, Heda's simply constructed compositions from the 1620s and 1630s, composed around a linear frame, developed during the 1640s into a more abundant style in which he arranged objects in a seemingly casual way. In fact, these banketjes were highly ordered and beautifully balanced, showing the artist's skill in creating harmonious relationships among everyday objects. In the present work, the composition is based around two diagonals, running from the upper and lower right corners converging at the centre left edge; within this are arranged a variety of different forms and textures, balanced along vertical and horizontal accents and worked up in a range of greys, olive-greens and browns.

The present picture relates closely to a still life, dated 1643, formerly in the collection of Dr. Anton Dreesmann until sold in these Rooms, 11 April 2002, lot 556. Such is their proximity to one another, it appears the artist has employed many of the same elements (the ham, mustard pot, roemer, olive bowl, lemon, roll and flute) and simply re-arranged them within the same compositional formula. This picture differs in its more dramatic play of light in the background and the inclusion of a few additional components in the still life, such as the tazza and the wine glass on the right side.