a green coat and lavender skirt with her glass outstretched. There is a dog in the foreground. At the center of the table is an oyster which has been a popular symbol in Dutch genre painting. The oyster has been known as a symbol of Aphrodite, love, fertility, and sexual pleasure. The symbol is befitting of such as scene as it is associated with foods served at a feast of the gods. The oyster was commonly depicted in Dutch genre paintings up until the year 1635 when it became less common. After the year 1660 the symbol again became a common theme as it is here in Steen's 1668–1670 painting. In the painting the woman in the lavender skirt sitting at the left is a depiction of Steen's wife. She and Steen both wear a pink ribbon, she in her hair, and he on his hat. This ribbon is a unifying element between the two and represents their being cut from the same spool of ribbon. The parrot situated at the top left of the painting is a symbol of mimicry. To the left of the parrot is a pair of birds in a small birdcage which symbolizes two parents in a small abode. The pipe in the scene may have multiple meanings referring to a clay smoking pipe, the act of singing, or to a drinking vessel. According to the Dutch, the bagpipe was not an esteemed instrument as it was thought to be lowly and obnoxious. Such a symbol here represents bawdiness and low class, which is being encouraged by the parents. The young man playing the bagpipe is an older son of Steen. The laughing face of Jan Steen is commonly depicted by the artist in his paintings and is considered to be his iconography while laughter is also thought to be a symbol of foolishness and or fault. A reader might interpret the many laughing faces as gained wisdom, human fault, or lessons learned. Steen's iconographic grin has become somewhat of a folk character to museum patrons who delight in seeing his face in paintings. Culture Jan Steen has been described by historians as being from a middle-class, Catholic family of Leiden, who was also preoccupied with drinking and imprudent of his finances. Historical accounts state that Steen's father owned a brewery but also suggest that the brewery business became less profitable due to economic demands