A tromp l'oeil of bottles, game, plates, plums and nuts on shelves

The painter here 'fools the eye' with an illusionistic rendering of assorted bottles, fruit and objects set on wooden shelves. Several liquids are identifiable by the labels on their bottles, including: 'Eau d'or de Mont', 'Eau sans pareille', 'Sirop de capillaire', 'Eau de cannelle' and 'Eau de mille fleurs'. Among the perfumes that were circulating in the seventeenth century was one known as 'l’eau de mille-fleurs’, which was made from rose, musk, marjoram and other ingredients. Another formulation by that name which became popular by the eighteenth century counted as its main component cow’s urine, and was purported to soften the skin as well as help with such problems as jaundice and rheumatism. The bottle marked with this label in Valette’s painting may very well correspond to the latter of these substances. 'Sirop de capillaire' is a syrup made from a type of fern which in this period was used to create popular beverages known as 'bavaroises’ (Bavarians), consisting of the syrup mixed with milk, enhanced with tea, coffee or chocolate.

For a similar treatment, see Valette-Penot’s Trompe l'oeil with a sculpture of Hercules in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes (M. and F. Faré, La Vie silencieuse en France, La Nature morte au XVIIIe siècle, Paris, Fribourg, 1976, fig. 631).