Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 2, 1909.djvu/253

 vii AELBERT CUYP 237 815. POULTRY. One hen is attacked by an eagle. 51 inches by 69^ inches. Sale. London, February 13, 1904, No. 102. 816. A White Hen sitting in a Basket. [See note to 809*7.] Panel, 18 inches by 24 inches. Sales. Rotterdam, May 6, 1868, No. 14 (145 florins, Suermondt). (Possibly) London, March 21, 1904, No. 59. 817. AN OLD DUCK SITTING. Its head is turned to the right. Three eggs lie on some straw in front. To the left are inscribed the following verses, recounting the duck's history : Ik ben gebroet te Werkendam K'was jonck en goet, doen ick hier quam In Vogelenborch, sender te paeren Heb ick geleeft, wel twintich jaeren. Wei hondert eijers tsjaers geleyt Daerom ben ick geconterfeijt. Gebroocken beenen, toch out geneesen Gesondt en bont is nog myn weesen En als ick Sijethghen sterven sal Sov schryft hoe out en tjaergetal 1647. Anno, vyftich dartich daeghen In October hoort men claeghen Seytchen doot dit is al waer Out zynde dreijentwintich jaer. 1650. [" I was hatched at Werkendam. I was young and good when I came here into Bird-land. I have lived without pairing for some twenty years, and have laid some hundred eggs a year. It is on that account my portrait is painted. My broken bones have set, old as I am, and I am sound and healthy in body ; and if I, Sijethghen, die, let some one note my age, and the date 1647. In the year 50, the 3Oth October, folk had to lament the death of Seytchen it is quite true at the age of twenty-three. 1650."] Signed on the left, A. Cuyp ; panel. Sale. Delft, about 1895. In the collection of Jan Veth, Bussum. 8 1 8. DUCKS ON A RIVER. Sm. 246. In the immediate foreground two ducks are swimming from opposite sides towards the centre, on a river, the bank of which, overgrown with bushes, fills the left of the picture. The farther bank with houses and a church tower is seen in the distance. In the left foreground, on the bank, are two other ducks. Above these, and in the middle distance, a mallard, widgeon, and teal, may be seen flying, with other aquatic birds. These are somewhat hard in treatment. A fine summer afternoon.