Valckenburg was a member of the small circle of painters of decorative gamepieces, active in Holland at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th. His teacher, Jan Weenix, and the cousin of Weenix, Melchior d´Hondecoeter, were also members of this group. Their patrons belonged to the aristocracy and the wealthy bourgeoisie. Their tastes and requirements for prestigious art is reflected in the opulence of the compositions and the subject matter of the pictures.

On an educational tour destined for Italy, the twenty year-old painter initially stopped in Germany before arriving in Vienna in 1698 where he painted four large gamepieces for Johann Adam Andreas I of Liechtenstein. On his return to Amsterdam he found a patron for his art in King William III of Orange.