This painting is part of a larger composition which also included poultry, as is indicated by the turkey’s legs which can be seen at the top, clumsily cut off from the rest of the canvas, as are the two clams in the upper left corner. The line of the weft along the bottom edge proves that the picture was not cut off on that side.
This painting was attributed to Marco di Caro, but F. G. Meijer classified it among Kerckhoven’s works (letter from J. Nieuwstraten, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, the Hague, 6 June 1986).
A painting signed with the painter’s monogram I.V.D.K., features fairly similarly painted fish. It was on sale in 1993 on the Italian art market (Galleria Ars, Guido Giorgi, Ospedaletti, Liguria).
