Earlom, a native of London, displayed great skill as a draughtsman early in life and was self-taught in the art of engraving in mezzotint. Although he created prints after works by Guido Reni, Benjamin West, and Joshua Reynolds, his finest engravings were the elegant botanical still lifes based on paintings by Dutch artists, Jan van Os and Jan van Huysum. In this work and in the mezzotint exhibited nearby, fruit and flowers abound in luxurious displays set on marble slabs. Typically, a variety of insects, attracted by the lush array, crawl or hover throughout the arrangement. Integral to the compositions are the elaborately decorated vases and the suggestion of a landscape in the background. Mezzotint, one of the most complex printmaking processes, gives these works a rich texture unequaled in other botanical engravings.