The Wine Merchant: Portrait of a Gentleman, small full-length, seated on a barrel in a cellar, in a grey coat, holding a wineglass, with an attendant, a row of oak vats behind

The sitter is represented surrounded by tools of his trade, including a flogger, a tool used for hitting around and thus loosening the bung, before him and to the right; next to it is an adze, an essential part of a cooper's equipment. The two bottles on the floor are, to the left, an onion bottle, and to the right a mallet bottle. The attendant behind holds a velinche, used for drawing wine out of barrels. Although elements of the cellar's appearance might suggest a Germanic location, this is belied by the tam-o-shanter worn by the attendant and the glass of red wine on the barrel. The fact that van der Myn's later life and work was overshadowed by his predeliction for alcohol, reputedly resulting in his dying in poverty, might help explain his unusual choice of subject.
The picture has previously been described as signed and dated 1744.