Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show you this blue and white oval plaque, made around 1705. The plaque depicts a lively tavern scene. Peasants are reveling as they watch a couple dancing to the music of a horn or shawm player. A skeptical cat is seated on a tiled floor in the foreground. The scene is framed by a rounded, blue-ground border of large blossoms and foliage. The framed border is interrupted with four molded oval panels painted at the sides with chinoiserie scenes of a dancing Chinese boy (a so-called Zotje), and at the top and bottom the panels are decorated with a long-billed bird amidst grassy plants. In the Low Countries, genre paintings enjoyed a distinct popularity, with paintings showing scenes of ordinary people engaged in common activities. Especially, scenes of drinking were a recurring theme.…