Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/178

 154 JAN STEEN SECT. hangs a cage with a parrot. On the floor are an earthenware jug, a kettle, and a spotted dog. Canvas, 24^ inches by 20 inches. Sale. P. Mersch, Berlin, March i, 1905, No. 108. A picture answering precisely to the above description, but painted on panel and measuring 21 inches by 19 inches, was in the Baillie sale, Antwerp, April 22, 1862, No. 57 (1050 francs, De Caluwe), and was identified with Sm. Suppl. 68 (see 724). 591. A Merry Company in Front of a House. W. 301. Probably the artist's family, about to sit down to table. Canvas, 28 inches by 22 inches. [W. forgot to say where he saw this picture.] 592. A RUSTIC FEAST. In the centre a couple are dancing. A fiddler stands on a bench and plays a tune. To the left twelve or fifteen persons sit at a large table ; beyond are seen a landscape and a village fair. To the right are a couple at the door, and a woman taking down a jug from a hook. In all there are twenty-eight figures. Signed with the monogram, and dated 1677. Now in the collection of Herr Goldschmidt, jun., Frankfort. 593. A MERRY COMPANY IN A TAVERN. A girl, whose red silk dress is somewhat disordered, sings from a printed paper ; an elderly man looks over her shoulder to accompany her. Near her sits a fiddler who is also singing, and may perhaps be identified with the artist ; the fiddler looks round towards a man who is drinking to the girl. At a table to the left are two women and two men. On a shelf are some metal pots and pans ; in the right background two men of distinguished appearance converse with a girl. Through the open door one sees houses and trees. The upper part of the picture is filled with a curtain gathered up on both sides. The picture is in the artist's later and less refined manner, but is very lively in colour. Signed in full on the left ; panel, 19 inches by 12^ inches. Now in the Picture Gallery at Gotha, 1890 catalogue, No. 252. 594. A MERRY COMPANY. Sm. 56 and Suppl. 104; W. 181. In a room a company of men and women are playing, drinking, and jesting. A jovial man sits on the ground in front and fills his glass with wine from a black bottle. Somewhat farther back is a bagpiper with a girl at his side. A pair of lovers stand at the table playing backgammon. Canvas, 17 inches by 19^ inches. Sales. J. D. Nijman, Amsterdam, August 16, 1797, No. 236 (180 florins). Sir F. Sykes, London, 1831 (S7 ' I S S -^ In the collection of Klerk de Reus, The Hague, 1842 (Sm.). In the collection of the late Baroness von Rothschild, Frankfort. 595. A MERRY COMPANY IN A TAVERN (or, The Oyster Feast). Sm. 117; W. 10. Numerous men and women are eating, drink-