Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/506

 482 PIETER DE HOOCH SECT. 2ia. Woman beside a Cradle. A woman sits making lace ; beside her lies a child in a cradle. By P. de Hooch or in his manner. Sale. C. H. Schultz, in Amsterdam, July 10, 1826, No. 240 (14 florins 10, Gunter). 22. Woman and Child by the Fireside. Before the fireplace in a feebly lighted room sits a woman, holding a knife. A child is at her side. A young man whom she is questioning stands in front of her. In the background, through a half-opened door, is visible another room which is brilliantly lighted. Panel, 14 inches by I2| inches. Sale. Van Rotterdam, in Ghent, July 6, 1835, No. 170. 23. Woman with a Child beside a Cradle. Sm. Suppl. 8. To the right, in a room with windows, a young woman kneels beside a cradle, which she is making ready for the infant, carefully wrapped up, whom a servant holds in her arms. On the other side of the room a large fire burns on the hearth ; a kettle and various other accessories are introduced. Canvas, about 18 inches by 20 inches. Sale. De Gruyter, in Amsterdam, 1841 (Woodburn, according to Sm.). 230. The Nurse. Sale. Paris, March 20, 1883 (5000 francs). 23^. Woman and Child in a Room. In the middle of a room paved with tiles a woman stands at a table, with a child and a dog. At the open door a man is talking to a woman. Panel, 15 inches by 12 inches. Sale. Hummer, in Cologne, October 5, 1894, No. 116. 24. MOTHER AND CHILD IN AN INTERIOR. The mother, with the child at her breast, sits on the left-hand side of a room. The sun shines on the ground at her feet and partly illumines her figure. She wears a red skirt and a bluish-black jacket, and has on her head a white kerchief, the shadows upon which are a light blue. The child has a light blue cap and is wrapped in a yellow cloth with red stripes. On the woman's right is a fire-basket, covered with a yellow brown cloth ; on her left is a cat. To the right, at the back of the room, is an open door beside a window. In the ante-room is a girl in a dark dress, with her back to the spectator. She stands at the foot of a staircase going up to the right, and speaks through an open window to a man with a broad- brimmed hat. In the left foreground of the front room is a fireplace, with a fire burning. On a sort of night-table stands a pot in shadow. The floor is here laid with brown and white tiles, and in the ante-room with blue tiles. The effect of light is unpleasant and disturbing. The red of the lips, cheeks, and eyelids, and the light blue of the kerchief, are too vivid. Even among the late works this is a feeble example. The dubious signature "P. d. Hoog" occurs on a screen by the fire- place on the left. In 1895 or 1896 this picture was in the hands of a dealer, and was vainly offered for sale to the Rotterdam Museum.