i2 4 J AN STEEN SECT. 464. A VILLAGE WEDDING. W. 236. An old man with a bald head and a white beard, who wears a grey jacket, grasps the hand of a stout peasant woman and dances with her. A musician stands on a bench, playing a dance-tune. To the left are the wedding guests. The bridegroom persuades the bride to drink j she wears a gilt wreath. A stout man with a glass in his hand leans back, laughing heartily. At the end of the table are a couple embracing. Signed in full on the right ; panel, n inches by 14 inches. Sale. Wijn and Coole, Rotterdam, August 6, 1782, No 67. In the collections of Count Potocki, Paris, and of Adolphe Schloss, Paris. Now in the possession of the Paris dealer Kleinberger. 465. A VILLAGE WEDDING. Sm. Suppl. 2; W. 187. A large cottage-room, decorated with branches, is filled with wedding-guests. Amidst applause and laughter the bridal pair are being conducted to their chamber. The bride, who wears a little crown, stands hesitating on the threshold. The bridegroom grasps her by both arms and tries to drag her on ; a youth with fair curls pushes the girl towards him. At the door of the chamber, which is approached by two steps, stands a stout woman with smiling face, holding a candlestick. In front of the table to the left a woman sits with a child at her breast ; a little girl makes a dog beg. A boy and an old woman are also seated at the table j the other guests, among them two musicians, are standing up and are laughing and shouting at the bridal pair. The player of the rommelpot is probably to be identi- fied with Jan Steen himself. Children look in at the window on the left. It is a very good picture, and unquestionably an original. The bride- froom has not so repulsive a face as the man in a replica now in the icture Gallery at Vienna, which, according to tradition, has been there since 1651 (467). Signed in full in the right-hand bottom corner ; panel, 13! inches by inches. Formerly in the Crozat collection. Now in the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 901 ; it was there in 1842 (Sm.). 466. THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT. A young woman, who is pregnant, sits weeping at a table. An old woman, sitting beside her, raises the girl's white apron and scolds a youth who kneels and begs for pardon. At the old woman's feet, near a basket of poultry, sits a boy playing with a cat. A peasant, behind the old woman, threatens the youth with his fist ; another old woman seeks to quiet him. Near the table is a notary holding a marriage contract in one hand and a pen in the other ; he turns smilingly to the girl. Beside him is a peasant as witness. In the background to the left is a door ; an elderly man holding a cage, an old woman with a little girl, and a man with a high bkck hat, enter the room. The picture must originally have been very good, but it has been retouched, and is consequently somewhat dull in tone. It was formerly
