Harnett began painting still life pictures early in his career, initially limiting himself to the fruit and flower subjects common in seventeenth-century Dutch still-life painting. In 1876, perhaps influenced by the exotic foreign objects, art, and antiques that he saw at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, Harnett began to paint man-made items as well, including items such as musical instruments, books, beer mugs, and smoking pipes.

This painting originally found a home in a New York City saloon, where customers often mistakenly debated which of the objects were painted and which were actually real (they were all painted!). Harnett's popular pictures also hung in department stores and hotel lobbies, securing an artistic reputation for the painter beyond the walls of museums and galleries.