130 JAN STEEN SECT. in her right hand, but which is itself concealed by the door of the chamber. The bride, who is richly dressed, has tears in her eyes, and follows with slight reluctance. Beside her stands the bridegroom, wearing a large cap and laughing at her shyness. Canvas, 34 inches by 40^ inches. Sales. J. van der Linden van Slingeland, Dordrecht, August 22, 1785, No. 402 (76 florins, Kielman). D. van der Schrieck of Lou vain, Brussels, April 8, 1861, No. 107. 487. The Marriage-Contract. Cf. Sm. Suppl. 73. The mother sits at a table facing the spectator, and with spectacles on nose reads the marriage-contract attentively. An old man, presumably the father, rises from his arm-chair behind her to look at the document. In the centre of the picture are the lovers, hand in hand. Above them hangs a large crown. In the background their friends begin to celebrate the wedding. A man-servant puts a cock in a tub and casts a meaning glance at the bridal pair. Canvas, 41 inches by 49 inches. Compare 457. Sale. Madame M. Hoofman, Haarlem, June 2, 1846. In the possession of the dealer Nieuwenhuys. Sale. Due de Morny, Paris, May 31, 1865, No. 78 (5000 francs). A ^A/edding. In a large room in a village inn a company of more than twenty men, women, and children are at table. A fiddler stands on a bench playing ; the happy pair apparently Jan Steen and his wife are dancing to the music. Farther back are other guests. To the left, through a window framed in leaves and vine-tendrils, is seen a village in which numerous peasants stand about in front of booths. It is moon- light. The drawing is spirited, the expression good, and the lighting delicately managed. Signed in full and dated 1677; canvas, 40^ inches by 58^ inches. Sales. Marinus de Jeude, The Hague, April 18, 1735, No. 24 (130 florins). The Hague, April 24, 1737 (Terw. n), No. 7 (140 florins). Heris, Brussels, March 25, 1841, No. 34. Lemaitre, Paris, March 5, 1874, No. 41. 488*. A Wedding Feast. Sale. Byng, London, 1884 (^94 : IOs -> Colnaghi). Possibly identical with the " Dutch Wedding," a fine composition of twenty- six figures well grouped canvas, 23 inches by 28 inches which was No. 39 in the sale of A. L. van Essen, Antwerp, March 27, 1876. 489. A WEDDING FEAST. [Sellar collection, exhibited at the Grafton Galleries, London, 1897, No. 950 [The authenticity of the pictures with famous names in this collection was vigorously disputed at the time. When the collection was offered for sale at Christie's in November 1897 the first few lots brought such trifling bids that the sale was abandoned. Translator's Note.']
