Cook in the Larder

This still life, which demonstrates great virtuosity of execution, presents one of Snyders?s favourite motifs - dead game. The artist has depicted here both trophies of the hunt and slaughtered domestic fowl: on the table we see a grey heron, several partridges and a bunch of small song-birds. In the large wicker basket there are snipes, a pheasant and a partridge. A bittern is hanging on the wall. The cook with a large kitchen knife in his hand is leaning over a low table and threatening a cat, which is trying to pull the heron down off the table. It is likely that the cook has been painted by Jan Boeckhorst. This is a companion painting to the work Maidservant with a Boy in a Fruit Shop (private collection, Scotland).