Troost depicted a scene from the popular farce The Spendthrift or the Wasteful Woman. The central character, Johanna, wastes her new expensive finery on two Polish-Jewish traders, portrayed in a stereotypical manner.

In reality, they are Johanna’s father and husband, who have disguised themselves in order to expose her.

Perched on the chair at the left, amidst a variety of Chinese valuables, is a ring-tailed lemur from Madagascar.