Goya made his first known efforts in still-life when he was beyond the age of sixty. This painting is one of an original group of twelve still-lifes painted by the artist between 1808 and 1812. Dedicated to such traditional subjects as fruit, fish, and dead game, they remained in Goya’s personal possession throughout the rest of his life. Thus, like the Black Paintings that he later produced for the walls of the Quinta del Sordo, these works represent an undertaking more experimental, personal, and emotional than those made for the public.

Provenance
Francisco Goya; Francisco Javier Goya, 1812; Francisco Javier de Mariategui y Sola, c. 1838; by inheritance, María de la Concepción de Mariategui, wife of Mariano Goya, 1845; from Mariano Goya to Francisco Antonio Narváez y Bordese, conde de Yumuri, as payment of a loan, 1851; Francisco Antonio Narváez y Larrinaga, conde de Yumuri, 1866–1877; sale of the collection of M. le Comte de *** (conde Victor-François-Léonard Huyttens de Terbeck), (Hôtel Drouot), Paris, unsold, 25 and 26 May 1877; sale of the collection of M. de R., heir of conde de Terbeck, (Hôtel Drouot), Paris; Stanislas O’Rossen (?), 19 April 1882; George Wildenstein, New York, 1948; purchased by Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 1971.