Jan van Kessel produced hundreds of small paintings on copper, which were often used to decorate cabinets of curiosity, or kunstkasten. These cabinets, made from luxury materials like ebony and gold, contained precious objects collected from the natural world. The smooth surface of copper allowed the artist to represent fine details that were difficult to achieve on canvas or wood panel, and the luster of the copper surface enhanced the jewel-like colors of oil paint. Van Kessel, like his grandfather the great flower painter Jan Breughel the Elder, delighted in pictorial description, an outgrowth of the late-sixteenth-century interest in scientific naturalism. He was particularly adept at depicting birds and insects, often painting them against a light or dark ground to emphasize their distinguishing silhouettes. The artist’s work was avidly collected by elite international patrons, including the Prince of Liechtenstein, the original owner of these two panels.