"This work has always been thought to belong to the group of floral still lifes that Manet painted in the mid-1860s and, hence, to be contemporary with the Museum's Peonies (1976.201.16). However, the thick application of paint and warm palette suggest a date of about 1860. In fact, the same gold-and-blue patterned tablecloth appears in Manet's Portrait of the Artist's Parents (Musée d'Orsay, Paris), which is signed and dated 1860. As such, this may well be Manet's earliest flower painting. Manet gave this still life to artist Berthe Morisot's sister, Yves, possibly on the occasion of her marriage to Théodore Gobillard in December 1866." (The MET)