The Haarlem painter Adriaen van Ostade (1610–1685) learned his trade in the 1620s under Frans Hals (1582/84–1666), one of the most famous Dutch portrait painters. However, contrary to his training, van Ostade specialised in genre paintings, and the artist’s paintings, drawings, and graphics are today considered to be important depictions of daily life in the 17th century. Viewers are invited to participate in the life of the rural population and given intimate glimpses of homes and family life. The artist records status and lifestyle, fashion and furnishings or habits and customs at gatherings outdoors or in taverns. Such is the case with the painting with the five figures gathered around a central, cosy fireplace: smoking their pipes, the four men and the innkeeper “pass the time of day.” Conspicuous as the only ornament is a porcelain plate on the mantelpiece. The cheese wheels stowed above under the rafters – far from mice and other vermin – appear to be far more important. What, we wonder, may be stored in the willow basket?