David Pope started out as a clerk and bookkeeper in Baltimore but abandoned his work to become a painter in the late 1870s. Still lifes were his specialty. Dividing his time between Baltimore and New York City, he occasionally exhibited works at New York’s National Academy of Design. City directories in Baltimore record the artist at various addresses from 1877 to 1881 and again from 1886 to 1895. This canvas is stamped on the back with the name of a local dealer of prints, picture frames, and artist’s materials, so it is quite possible that he painted it here in Baltimore.