Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/300

 276 GABRIEL METSU SECT. Turkish carpet. She turns her head with a smile towards the spectator. The fingers of her left hand rest on the carpet ; her right elbow is on the table. She is just dipping her pen into a metal ink-pot. She wears a black dress trimmed with fur, and a skirt of reddish grey. She has large silver pendants in her ears and a white cap. A little dog comes towards her. On the wall is a sea-piece half hidden by a curtain. To the left is a fireplace with pilasters. Signed on one of the pilasters ; panel, 15 inches by 13^ inches. Sale. Dr. van Cleef, Paris, April 4, 1864, No. 59 (5020 francs). 77. A Lady with a Letter. Panel, 12 inches by 10 inches. In the Castle, Hanover, 1863 (Parthey, ii. 113). 77*. A Lady writing. In the Fourche collection, Bordeaux (De Sonneville, p. 87). 78. A Woman reading a Book. She sits in a chair and turns slightly towards the right. She wears a dark jacket with a white collar, a white cap, and a white apron over a red skirt. Behind her is the wall of a homely, middle-class room. Signed in full at the top; panel, 9 inches by 8 inches. Sale. P. Mersch, Berlin, March i, 1905, No. 64. 79. THE LACE-MAKER. Sm. 112. In a room with an oil- painting on the grey wall, a lady is seated at work with a lace pillow on her lap. She wears a grey satin dress and a blue jacket trimmed with white fur. At her feet to the left is a cat. Signed in full in the centre at the top ; panel, 14 inches by io inches. In the Saxon inventory of 1722, A53I. Now in the Picture Gallery, Dresden, 1902 catalogue, No. 1736. 80. A YOUNG LADY SEWING, WITH A PARROT (or, The Lace-Maker). Sm. Suppl. 13. The lady wears a grey dress and a green jacket trimmed with white fur, and is seated, with a lace pillow on her lap. Upon a table beside her is a cage, on which a blue parrot is perched ; to the right, near her, is a basket of linen, and behind it is a press. The painting is fresh and good, and the tone light. The picture has perhaps been somewhat overcleaned, but is of the finest quality. "This very clever picture is painted in a grey tone of colour" (Sm.). Signed high up on the wall "G. Metsue" ; panel, 14 inches by io inches. A replica was in the sale : Von Woyna and others, Bonn, March i, 1898, No. 145. Sale. Huybert Ketelaar, Amsterdam, June 19, 1777, No. 133 (160 florins, Fouquet). In the collection of Count Besborodkin, St. Petersburg, 1842 (Sm.). Now in the KouchelefF-Besborodko collection, St. Petersburg, 1886 catalogue, No. 50. 81. THE LACE-MAKER. Sm. 99. A young woman with a