Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/546

 522 PIETER DE HOOCH SECT. 170. A Music- Party. To the right before a spinet sits a young girl with her back to the spectator. Beside her a young man in red, who is laughing, plays the guitar. In the background is another girl ; to the left is a man playing a flute. Panel, 2i| inches by 18^ inches. Sale. Clave Bouhaben, in Cologne, June 4, 1894, No. 251. 171. THE DUET. De G. 65. In the entrance-hall of a country- house, on the shore of a lake, a handsome brunette is playing a lute, accom- panied on the violin by a man standing behind her to the left. The lady wears a light blue satin dress, the hem of which is embroidered in gold ; she has pearls in her hair and at her throat. A fair-haired young gentleman, in a red costume with a dagger in his bandolier, brings a chair from the back. To the left the hall opens on the lake, where a passing boat is seen ; a window in the wall at the back looks on a neighbouring house across the street. The sun is setting ; there are hills in the distance. The picture is of the late period. Canvas, 26 inches by 23! inches. Described by Hofstede de Groot, Sammlung Schubart, p. 39. [Compare '34-] Exhibited in Leipzig in 1889, No. 118, and in Munich, 1895, No. 26. Sales. In Holland, 1788, No. 12 (20 florins). J. C. Werther, Amsterdam, April 25, 1792, No. 76. In the possession of P. and D. Colnaghi, in London, in 1888. Sale. Dr. M. Schubart, Munich, October 23, 1799, No. 32. 171^. The Duet. On a terrace open at the back, looking on a canal with a stone bridge and houses, a lady in a rich silk dress sits to the right, facing the spectator and playing a lute. Seated beside her to the right is a cavalier, who is about to accompany her on the flute. In front of him to the right is a dog. On the extreme left stands a maid-servant pouring out a glass of wine. 2o inches by 24^ inches. Sales. Dunford, London, 1855. J. G. Menzies and others, London, February 25, 1905, No. 71. 172. The Concert. In the centre of a handsomely furnished room sits a young lady in a red dress, facing the spectator ; she sings and beats time with her right hand. To the left, at a table covered with a Persian carpet, is a gentleman with a black hat, playing the mandolin. Behind the table, on which is a jug, stands a man-servant with a glass in his right hand. The sunlight comes in at a window on the left. In the right background, through an anteroom, is seen a canal ; this vista seems to have been painted in later. Above the open door hangs a picture, with a map beside it. The floor is paved with black and white tiles. The red dress has a charming effect ; but the drawing, especially of the faces, is so careless that one might doubt whether the picture is by de Hooch. Signed to the left on the window "P D Hooch" or only "P. D. Ho . . .'* ; canvas, 22 inches by 24 inches.