Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 3, 1910.djvu/267

 x ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE 253 The woman sits, with spectacles on, examining the head of one of the men who lies against her lap. Possibly this derives from the original of Sa. Described by Sm. from an engraving by L. A 1. 376. The Musicians. Sm. 237. Three-quarter-length. In an interior are two men and a woman. One man sits in front with his foot on a cask, serving as a table, and plays the fiddle. A stout woman, seated opposite to him, seems to be singing from a paper which she holds. The other man stands between them, holding a jug. About 12 inches by 10 inches. Described by Sm. from an engraving by Basan entitled "Les Musiciens." The picture was also engraved by R. J. van Arum. 377. Two Men and a Woman drinking. Sm. 214. Half- length. One man, wearing a cap, sits at a table on the left ; he has his back to the spectator, and is turned to the right. His left arm rests on his chair ; his right hand grasps a big jug on the table. Opposite him sits a woman with a cap, who leans her left arm on the table and holds up a full glass of beer in her right hand as if giving a toast. At the back between them stands a second man, facing the spectator, and resting his left hand on the back of the woman's chair. 9 inches by 8 inches. Described by Sm. from an engraving by Cornelis Visscher, called by Wussin (156) "The Contented." Engraved also in mezzotint by J. Gole (Wessely, 206), and in reverse by Nypoort. 378. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL (or, A School-Room). Sm. 18. Beside an arched window on the left, the master sits on a chair. At a table before him to the right stands a little boy, bending over a book to a passage in which the master points with a pencil. On the right, behind the boy, a bigger boy, facing the spectator, stands waiting with his hat in his right hand and his books in his left. Farther right, on a low bench, are two other young pupils ; one of whom bends down. Two others sit reading on the floor in the extreme left foreground. At the back, in the shadow near a window, are tables, benches, and more pupils. An "ex- cellent little picture" (Sm.). Signed, and dated 1666 ; panel, 8 inches by 7 inches. Sale. (Probably) Count van Wassenaar-Obdam, The Hague, August 19, 1750 (Hoet, ii. 293), No. 42 (505 florins, Hoet). (Probably) In the collection of J. T. Batts, Salisbury, 1829 (Sm., who valued it at 262 : IDS.). Sale. Baron Konigswarter of Vienna, Berlin, November 20, 1906, No. 68 (39,000 mark, James Simon). In the collection of James Simon, Berlin. 379. A Village School. Very fine in tone. Mentioned by De Sonneville, p. 87. In the Fourestier collection, Bordeaux.