a Dutch Golden Age painter, who lived and painted in Haarlem, where he was an officer of the militia, or schutterij. Pot’s type of genre scenes became known as "Merry Company" genre paintings. This included his 1635 piece, Portrait of a Young Woman, and a companion piece, now lost, as well as his 1630 piece, A Merry Company at Table. Both these paintings contain several objects considered sensual symbolism. A Merry Company at Table was set in a brothel, a popular theme in Dutch genre painting.
