Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/126

 102 JAN STEEN SECT. background the father stands talking to a neighbour at the door. "A highly finished work " (Sm.). Canvas, 13 inches by io| inches. Sales. Pompe and Jan van Huysum, Amsterdam, October 14, 1749, No. 36 (30 florins). Rotterdam, June 28, 1756, No. 22 (30 florins). Ch. A. de Calonne, of Paris, London, March 23, 1795 (40). At Christie's, London, 1831 (36: 155.). George Morant, London, 1832 (^53 : I is.). Earl of Clare, London, 1864 (77: 145., Ripp). Howard, London, 1873 (.193, Nieuwenhuys). 383*7. The Grace. Six figures. From the description it seems of very doubtful authenticity. Canvas, i6| inches by 14 J inches. Sale. A. von Keller and others, Frankfort-on-the-Main, May 17, 1904, No. 83. 384. A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY. An elderly man and his wife from the town are paying a visit to a country squire. The host, standing in the middle of a homely room, offers his guests a pewter pot of liquor, which the husband takes with a smile. His wife holds a mufF. In the left foreground a boy is blowing out a pig's bladder; a little girl with a large hat looks at him curiously. A woman with a dish enters by a door at the back. To the left, through an open doorway, is seen the courtyard, in which a maid-servant is conversing with a man. In the right foreground is a cask decorated with vine leaves ; a dog is near it. A broom lies in the middle of the floor. The signature is not above suspicion, but the picture is genuine, though it has suffered. The figure of the woman on the right is especially deli- cate in execution, and beautiful in colour and lighting. Signed in full in the bottom left-hand corner; canvas, i8 inches by 22 inches. Now in the Schlesisches Museum, Breslau, 1898 catalogue, No. 231; Fischer bequest. 385. THE GALLANT OFFER. Sm. 34; W. 30 and 412. A young man comes dancing in from a door on the right, holding in one hand a herring and in the other two onions. He offers these to a woman sitting at the table ; she looks at him with a smile, and seems to point with her right hand to an elderly man with a tall hat beside her. This man, with a look of content, sits in a stooping position and is cracking nuts. A stout maid-servant, at whom a man in the background points mockingly, holds a jug in her right hand and looks with an amused glance at the young man. In the right foreground is a barking dog. It is a pleasant and spirited composition, with very warm colouring, and is rendered with much vigour. Signed in full in the right-hand bottom corner; canvas, 32 inches by 25! inches. Engraved in the Poullain Gallery.