Clara Peeters painted several variations on the theme of a live cat with fish and other seafood. This example is typical of her work produced after 1620, featuring simple compositions of relatively humble objects and using a relatively limited palette.

The reddish ceramic colander holds several types of fish, including an eel whose long, slender body forms a prominent loop that adds visual interest to the upper left-hand portion of the painting. Peeters demonstrates great skill in distinguishing among the various textures: slippery fish scales, thickly glazed clay, the cat's fur, and the contrast between the rough shell of the open oyster and the gleaming pewter dish on which it rests. To further show off her technique and to increase the illusion of space within the picture, the artist adds several reflections in the metal salver, plus a number of diagonal elements-notably the small fish on which the cat has firmly planted its front paws and some subtler details, like the two small gouges on the near edge of the wooden table.

Aside from the meticulous descriptions of this array of comestibles, the most arresting element of this piece is the cat-ears pointed back, alert to any potential interloper. Animals from cats to monkeys appear regularly in seventeenth-century Flemish still lifes. However, there may be some symbolism involved here. While fish played an important role in daily life in Northern Europe, cats were not especially well liked because they were considered untrustworthy. Therefore, one writer has suggested that Peeters may have intended for her viewer to play the role of the family cook, catching the mischievous feline just as it is about to snatch its prize.