Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/613

 vi JOHANNES VERMEER 589 15. An Old Woman with a Reel. B. 3 ; H. 3. She is sitting almost in profile, and is seen at full length almost life-size. She has her hands in her lap. To the right is the reel. The background is a light wall. A small object on the wall, resembling a reel, has the form of the monogram of Vermeer, "J. v. M." (the letters intertwined) ; canvas, 52 inches by 44 inches. Ascribed by Philipps, Eastlake, W. Burger, and Waagen, to Vermeer of Delft. Offered to the National Gallery, London, in the time of W. Biirger, for ji57:ios, but declined; afterwards it was for some time in Burger's possession, and then again in that of an English dealer. 1 6. A GIRL ASLEEP. H. 48. A girl sits facing the spectator behind a table to the left. She leans her head on her right hand ; her left hand rests on the table. She wears a small black cap, and a brown dress with white ribbons on the shoulders. The table is covered with a Turkey carpet; on it are a blue dish with fruit, a napkin, a white jug, and a knife. In the corner of the right foreground is the back of a chair. In the left upper part of the wall at the back is the right-hand bottom corner of a picture of Cupid standing, with a mask lying on the ground ; the whole picture, without the mask, is given in the National Gallery picture (23) and in that belonging to H. C. Frick (27). On the right a sliding door, half open, leads to another room, in which is a table with a small picture on the wall above it. Signed to the left above the girl's head, "J. V. Meer" (the V and M intertwined) ; canvas, 34 inches by 29^ inches. Sales. Amsterdam, May 16, 1696, No. 8 (62 florins). John W. Wilson, Paris, 1881. In the possession of the dealer Ch. Sedelmeyer, Paris, " Catalogue of 300 Paintings," 1898, No. 88. In the collection of the late Rodolphe Kann, Paris ; purchased as a whole by Duveen Brothers, the London dealers, August 1907. 17. A MAID-SERVANT POURING OUT MILK. 6.25; H. 28. A maid-servant, seen almost at full length, stands in the centre, turning slightly to the left. She holds a jug in both hands, and pours out milk into a mug which stands on a table with a green cover, filling the left foreground. Near the mug are a bread-basket, some pieces of bread, and a beer-jug. Above the table to the left is a window, the light from which falls on the girl. She wears a jacket and skirt and a white cap. On the wall behind her to the left are a basket and a brass pail. On the ground to the right is a foot-warmer. Signed "J. V. Meer" (the J and M intertwined) ; canvas, 18 inches by i6| inches. Described by Waagen (iii. 27). In the exhibition of the Six collection, Amsterdam, 1900, No. 70. Sales. Amsterdam, May 16, 1696, No. 2 (175 florins). Amsterdam, April 20, 1701, No. 7 (320 florins). Jacob van Hoek, Amsterdam, April 12, 1719, No. 20 (126 florins).