England at Christmas: Norwich Castle Museum

During this Christmas Break, I was determined to visit the taxidermy room ("Natural History") at the museums of Norwich Castle. BUT this piece caught my eye, and was practically the last thing we saw in the museum.

This is brilliant. The Paston Treasure, by an unknown Flemmish or Dutch painter.

This is a unique work portraying a small portion of the family's riches, the Pastons of Oxnead Hall. This style of showing off the family wealth is called Vanitas. Most Vanitas paintings include 1 or 2 gilded items which serve as the painter's signature (see the clock, or compass, or trophy). Several items in the painting were actually found in the Paston collection, meaning that they were indeed that rich. It is likely that each artifact was brought to the artist individually to paint, as none of these riches actually overlap.

The girl in headphones is likely the patrons daughter, Margaret Paston. The male in green is likely a servant or slave. 

(Text here is adapted from the installation card).