Still Life with Fruit and a Beaker on a Cock's Foot 1660s - 1670s

Abraham Mignon painted this still life with oils on canvas during the Dutch Golden Age. It's a lavish display of fruits and objects that speaks volumes about the culture of its time. Still life paintings like this weren't just about showing off artistic skill. In the Netherlands, emerging as a major center of global trade, they were closely tied to economic expansion and the rise of a wealthy merchant class. Exotic fruits, ornate glassware, and the very act of displaying such opulence reflected a society that was increasingly focused on material wealth and consumption. Mignon’s painting can be seen as a document of social aspiration. Art historians consult estate inventories, trade records, and sumptuary laws to understand how these images operated within the complex social economy of 17th-century Dutch society. The image acts as a time capsule, preserving a moment in the history of capitalism.