i JAN STEEN 141 with smiling face plays on a small fiddle, and makes a dog bark. Above on the right a man looks out of a window. Signed in full ; canvas, 63^ inches by 59^ inches. Formerly in the Esterhazy collection. [See 614^.] Now in the National Gallery, Buda-Pest, 1898 catalogue, No. 337. 526. A MERRY COMPANY. W. 171. In the foreground of a room a young woman, an old man, and a young man are seated round a table with a green cloth. The woman, with smiling face, looks out of the picture ; she holds up a half-empty glass in her right hand, and rests her left hand, in which is a jug, on the back of the chair. Behind the table a maid-servant approaches with a dish of food. In the right back- ground are a pair of lovers. In the left background is an open door. On the wall is a picture of a landscape. The catalogue of 1888 questions the authenticity of the picture, and suggests that it may be by Brakenburg, to whom it is definitely ascribed in the catalogues of 1897 and 1903. It has suffered considerably, but appears to be a genuine work by Jan Steen, so far as it can be seen in its present position. Panel, 14 inches by 17 inches. In the Kassel collection in 1749, numbered 85 in the inventory. Now in the Picture Gallery at Kassel, 1903 catalogue, No. 297. 527. A MERRY COMPANY. Apparently the family of the painter. Jan Steen stands on the right behind a table, on the other side of which his wife sits, with her face to the spectator. Both watch a child standing on a bench to the left and drinking from a glass held out by his grandmother. Behind the table sits a nurse with a child in her arms. Near her is a boy playing the bagpipes ; he is of a familiar type, and is prob- ably the son of Jan Steen. A man standing on the left pretends to accompany him, playing with a spoon on a gridiron as if it were a fiddle. The man has put a funnel, in the top of which is a pipe, upon his hat. To the right is a bed ; on the wall at the back hangs a map. From the ceiling hangs a fine brass chandelier. To the left is the fireplace. The picture must once have been an excellent work, delicate in tone and in colour, but has been over-cleaned and completely spoiled. Signed in full at the foot of the bench ; canvas, 28| inches by 25-i inches. Described by Waagen (Suppl. 459). Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1894, No. 87. Formerly in the MacLellan collection. Now in the Glasgow Art Gallery, 1892 catalogue, No. 451. 528. A MERRY COMPANY. Sm. 151 ; W. 68. A composi- tion of thirteen figures. At some distance from the front is a young woman holding a glass ; an elderly man grasps her by the arm. Farther back sit a man and a woman ; behind her is a man, who asks his wife to descend a staircase. A boy, plays a flute, and an old woman gives drink to a child. It is full of humour and is tenderly painted ; the tone is clear
