Responding to the rising demand for Dutch flower still lifes in the London art market, Amsterdam flower and fruit still life painter Cornelia van der Mijn was highly appreciated by the English nobility of her time. By portraying lavish, opulent bouquets against a uniform background, she built upon Dutch seventeenth and eighteenth-century traditional flower still life painting, exemplified by artists such as Jan van Huysum (1682–1749) and Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750). In Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Vase (1762), for example, she creates a dynamic composition by skilfully arranging the flowers in an s-curve. More perspective is created by a carnation, depicted at the centre of the bouquet and gracefully falling downwards over the edge of the marble table top.

Born in Amsterdam, C. van der Mijn’s early childhood was defined by extensive travel following the artistic journey of her father, the portrait, history and still life painter Herman van der Mijn (1684–1741). Along with her mother, Susanna Bloemendael (1681/82–1724), who was skilled at drawing, and three brothers, she moved to Düsseldorf in 1713. Here, her father was court painter to Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz (1658–1716) and his wife, Anna Maria Luisa de Medici (1667–1743), until 1716. Following their return to Amsterdam in the same year, the family undertook other voyages, to Antwerp in 1716 and London in 1723. Given the artistic background of her parents, it is very likely that they both played a prominent role in C. van der Mijn’s artistic training.

During these years, she actively contributed to the family’s atelier, where she worked alongside her brothers Gerard (1706–after 1761), Andreas (c. 1714–after 1777), Frans (1719–1783), as well as Robert (1724–after 1776) and George (1726–1763), who were born from her father’s second and third marriages. From at least 1727 onwards, her aunt, the flower and fruit still life painter Agatha van der Mijn (1700–after 1777), joined the family atelier in London.

C. van der Mijn was to live in London until at least the age of seventy-two. Contrary to the Netherlands, the London art market offered more exhibition opportunities for women artists, in particular through the Free Society of Artists. Here, sixteen of her works were exhibited from 1764 to 1772 under the name Mrs. van der Mijn. These works included not only flower and fruit still lifes, but also portraits. Given that her aunt exhibited artworks under her full name at the same exhibitions between 1764 and 1768, it is likely that, at least during these years, this honorific refers to C. van der Mijn as the only other woman painter of the family.
Her self-portrait, which was owned by the Dutch merchant Abraham Cortebrandt (1701–1780), depicts her sitting behind an easel with a landscape painting. This self-portrait makes it even more plausible that, even if not frequently, she did sometimes paint other genres, such as portraits and landscapes. This not only indicates the versatility of her artistic skills but also testifies to her self-awareness as a painter.