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In the early seventeenth century in both Flanders and Holland, besides the monumental kitchen piece, a humbler variant emerged in the form of the breakfast still-life. In a sense this type can be regarded as a reduced form of the kitchen pieces. They usually consist of tables covered with all kinds of cutlery, crockery and glassware. Sometimes they are laid ready for breakfast or some other meal.
An early version of the type is provided by several remarkable paintings of the Franckens, Frans II and Hieronymus II. These are simple, sober breakfast tables, laid with bread and herring, with a moralizing print on the wall. A typical example is the present still-life by Hieronymus Francken II.
The painting depicts a still-life with pottery, herring and pancakes, a print of an owl on the wall. There is an inscription top right: AL HEEFT HY KAERS EN BRIL/ ... UYL NIET ZIEN WIL (Even with a candle and glasses, the owl cannot see). The painting is signed and dated bottom right: Anno.1604 Jeronimus . Francken.
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