Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
The Bird Seller
About the Artwork
In this market scene, the Dutch artist Willem van Mieris portrayed a man and woman in a poultry shop who negotiate over the price of a bird. A curtain is pulled aside above to reveal the scene—as if the viewer sees something in secret—while a faux relief panel below them portrays amorous putti. Market scenes portraying a man and a woman often carried amorous or lascivious connotations in 17th-century Holland, undertones that were acknowledged and enjoyed by the middle-class patrons who purchased such works.
Provenance
July 8, 2003: Christie's, London, England 2003-2019: Private Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands March 4, 2019: the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Willem van Mieris (Dutch, 1662–1747)
- Date
- c. 1700–1710
- Medium
- black and white chalk on blue paper, laid down on brown paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 36.4 x 28.9 cm (14 5/16 x 11 3/8 in.); Matted: 41 x 31.8 x 0.3 cm (16 1/8 x 12 1/2 x 1/8 in.); Image: 26 x 22.3 cm (10 1/4 x 8 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 2019.10
More by Willem van Mieris in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011336
Powered by Art Trackers