William Merritt Chase achieved a technical virtuosity that earned him the title of master. He initially painted still lifes to support himself but returned to them later in his career with great success. Though his early examples were predictable, in the 1890s Chase began to favor unlikely subjects that recalled Dutch paintings of the 1600s. Chase’s bravura brushwork (characterized by boldness and technical virtuosity) in this still life is most evident in the rendering of translucent fish skin, which he painted with immediate and fluid brushstrokes.