In this elegant still life, Balthasar van der Ast has set a vase of flowers against a cool grey background, illuminated by a strong light source. The unusually sophisticated construction and directional lighting give depth to the floral arrangement and focus attention on the individual blooms. Van der Ast generally favoured dark backgrounds with more muted lighting, but in a few other examples from the first half of the 1630s he adopted a more dramatic approach to light; we can compare this work to an example in the National Gallery, dated to circa 1630. The effective device of the slate background used here appears, however, to be unique.

Like Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Van der Ast’s brother-in-law and teacher, Van der Ast studied flowers from life, combining a variety of specimens from different seasons into a fantastical, imaginary arrangement. As he rarely dated his paintings after 1626, no firm chronology can be established for his work from the final three decades of his career.