The Bird Seller (c. 1700–1710): Art, History and Details

The Bird Seller (c. 1700–1710) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Willem van Mieris (Dutch, 1662–1747).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: The Bird Seller
• Date: c. 1700–1710
• Creator attribution: Willem van Mieris (Dutch, 1662–1747)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: 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.)
• Collection: DR - Dutch
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2019.10

A detail from the museum

In 17th-century Holland, market scenes portraying a man and a woman often had amorous undertones.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.