William Michael Harnett (1848-1892) was an Irish-American painter who helped pioneer a trompe l'oeil (literally, "fool the eye") style of realistic painting. He painted still lifes of common household objects arranged in such a way that the painting was to be mistaken for the objects themselves. These objects included musical instruments, firearms, and even paper currency, similar to contemporary John Haberle and successor Otis Kaye. Wikipedia
