The lively depiction of two owls fighting wildly for a rat has been part of Carl Gustaf Tessin’s collection. The artist Hans Georg Müller was his drawing instructor and close to his father, the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger. Müller was born in Holstein, immigrated to Sweden in 1675 and remained there. He mainly undertook decorative assignments for the royal palaces. C.G. Tessin said Müller was “thoroughly honest” and an “honourable man”.