Still Life with a Silver Jug and a Porcelain Bowl

Willem Kalf did not paint the most common type of Asian objects circulating in the Dutch Republic, but generally chose rare examples that were already decades old. Sometimes he combined elements from various objects. For example, the decoration on the inside of this bowl is typical of klapmutsen (bowls with a flat rim) from earlier in the century, while the decoration on the outside is based on a contemporary piece of porcelain.