Carducius Plantagenet Ream was one of the most important still life painters of the 19th century. Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Ream began his artistic career painting in New York and Cincinnati before he moved to Chicago in 1878. It was in Chicago that Ream became the city's leading still life painter and gained national and international recognition for his artistic achievements. He was the elder brother of Morston Ream who was also a prominent still life painter.

 Ream's oeuvre is typified by table-top studies of fruit placed near or in a china dish or glass. He also painted fruit in their natural setting, such as on the vine or freshly picked from the tree. Ream was a master at rendering the color and sensuous texture of fruit by bathing his subjects in soft, yet dramatic light. His paintings are rendered with precise brushstrokes and a crispness, demonstrating his skill as a painter and emphasizing the trompe l'oeil effect.

 Ream began to paint early in his career, and his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in London. Ream studied abroad in London, Paris, and Munich as well as in New York. His painting Just Gathered was the first picture by an artist resident in Chicago to be included in the permanent collection of the Art Institute. Ream's paintings are also housed in prestigious private collections and institutions including the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA. He enjoyed a prosperous career during his lifetime and exhibited at renowned venues such as the Brooklyn Art Association (1872-1879), the Royal Academy London (1892, 1898); and the Art Institute of Chicago (1894-1909, 1909 solo show, 1910-1917). Ream's fruit pictures gained such prominence that they were reproduced as chromolithographs by Louis Prang & Company and advertised as "dining-room pictures