Reproduced in the artist's 1984 Govett-Brewster catalogue which accompanied the exhibition surveying his practice curated by Jim and Mary Barr, this early still life was painted when the artist was just 21 years old. It shows the influence of one of his lecturers at the Elam School of Fine Arts, John Weeks (1886-1965). The elements of the chair back, blue gingham tablecloth, knife, butter, mug, loaf and slices of bread are simple enough, but they are combined in a composition which is closely cropped and highly complex. Weeks was a Cubist who had studied with Andre Lhote in Paris. He encouraged his painting students to use layering and multiple perspectives. Smither has made it his business to paint what I know throughout his career, depicting people, landscapes and domestic environments which he understands.

Recording the makings of a sandwich lunch shows that there was always something that was happening in the home which was worthy of documentation as part of daily life. His palette is rich with Fauvist colour: dark greens for the shadows and vivid red outlines for the crust around the sliced bread. Attention has been lavished on all the parts of the composition so that the sheen on the crockery does not compete with the folds of the butter paper but is seen as equally interesting. The thickly-painted and directional brushstrokes lend dynamism to the painting which is tightly focused around a circular arrangement of simplified forms, viewed from above.