Pieter van Roestraten was a native of the Dutch city of Haarlem and was known for his still life pictures painted in both the Netherlands and England. In the 1640s he became a pupil of Frans Hals and married his daughter Adriaentje in 1654; three years later he moved to Amsterdam, and then settled in London in about 1666, living close to Covent Garden; he died there in 1700 and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The artist was trained professionally as a portrait painter, yet he seldom painted portraits during his long career; and while in London, he was introduced to Charles II by Sir Peter Lely, on condition that he should not compete with him in painting portraits for the King.