Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/312

 288 GABRIEL METSU SECT. at a table, facing the spectator. Two other fish and three parsnips lie on the table. On the right is a copper fish-kettle, on which sits a kitten. A red cloth hangs down from the table on the right. Behind the woman is the wall of a house covered with a vine. " An excellent little picture " (Sm.). Canvas, u| inches by io| inches. A copy by J. Lauwers was in the sale of P. J. Hogguer, Amsterdam, August 1 8, 1817, No. 43 (120 florins, Woodburn) ; it is now in the collection of Sir George Donaldson, London, and was exhibited at the Guildhall, London, 1903, No. 161. [Compare 121, below.] Described by Descamps. Sales. Jan Gildemeester Jansz, Amsterdam, June II, 1800, No. 137 (1800 florins, T. Spaen). H. Muilman, Amsterdam, April 12, 1813, No. 161 (1850 florins). Ducd'Alberg, 1817 (168). De la Hante, 1821 (215, 53.). Beckford, Fonthill Abbey, Bath, 1823 (175). In the possession of the dealer Artaria. Sale. Edmund Higginson, Saltmarsh Castle, June 4, 1846 (^504, Roth- schild). Probably now in one of the Rothschild collections in England. 121. A Woman cleaning Fish. Sm. 62. A comely woman, wearing a dark jacket and apron and a white cap, stands at the door of a house overgrown with vine ; she has a knife in one hand and in the other a fish, which she exhibits to a woman customer. A basket of fish stands in front of her on a rough table, consisting of a plank laid on a cask. A dish with two fish in it stands on a pail in front, and a pair of scales hangs on the wall to the left. Canvas, n| inches by 10 inches. Possibly identical with 1 20 (Sm. 60) ? Compare also the larger Wallace collection picture, 33 (Sm. 50). In the collection of the Marquis Marialva, 1825 ; bought by Sm. privately C8o). In the Heris collection, Brussels, 1833 (Sm.) Sale. D. van der Schrieck, of Louvain, Brussels, April 8, 1861, No. 52 (6400 francs, Allar of Douai). 122. A MAID -SERVANT WITH FISH AND AN OLD WOMAN ASLEEP (or, The Tabby-Cat). Sm. 103. In the left background sits an old woman asleep, in profile to the right. She wears a white cap, a white collar open in front, and an apron ; in her left hand she holds a pair of spectacles, and in her right an open book lying on her kp. On the right a maid-servant stands, in profile to the right, at a table, cleaning fish ; she wears a red jacket, a blue skirt, and a white apron. On the floor in front is a dish of fish, with a pot and some radishes ; from the left a cat is stealthily creeping towards the fish. It is a very good picture. Canvas, 16 inches by 13^ inches. Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1892, No. 79. In the collection of Jeremiah Harman, 1833 (Sm.).