1 5 2 JAN STEEN SECT. 5820. A Merry Company. It is full of droll ideas and lively incidents, but is not one of the artist's spirited works. In the collection of John Chapman, near Manchester, in 1857 (Waagen, Suppl. 418). 583. The Inn Garden. W. 39. In the arbour of an inn five persons sit round a table, on which are a pewter pot, bread, and herrings. In the foreground a man, seated with his back to the spectator, puts his arm round the waist of a young girl who offers him a glass of wine. An old woman and a man, who is smoking, look on with a smile, while a young man, who stands and is cutting up a herring, appears less pleased. To the right is a cask with a pipe lying on it ; near it is a chafing-dish. A woman goes away through a door on the left. The picture is lifelike and masterly in expression, -and clear and pleasant in colour. Canvas, 29 inches by 23 inches. Sales. Mademoiselle L. F. Brugmans, Leyden, April 26, 1858 (500 florins, Harteveld). Madame Brugmans, nee Van Maanen, of Leyden, Amsterdam, February 25, 1896. 583*7. An Ass at Table. Two men and two women are at table. A servant leads in an ass, to whom food is given. Painted in 1654 ; copper, 10^ inches by 15 inches. At Ludwigslust, 1863 (Parthey, ii. 579, No. 43). 583^. A Peasant Family at Breakfast. Panel, 14 inches by 12 inches. In the Castle at Hanover in 1863 (Parthey, ii. 579, No. 55). 584. Interior of a Cottage Room. In the Haseloff collection, Berlin, 1863 (Parthey, ii. 580, No. 59). 585. [Identical with 479.] 586. A MERRY COMPANY. From the ceiling of a room hangs a large bluish-green curtain. To the left a fiddler stands on a bench behind a table, at which sit numerous persons, mostly lovers. On a staircase near them are a couple and a girl conversing with a young man standing below. Farther back are two persons dancing. A boy looks through a window. In the left foreground a woman is busy rinsing glasses. Near her are two children a boy eating bread, and a girl in yellow with an apple and a cake. To the right is a dog with a bone. Canvas, 39 inches by 40 inches. Sale. D. Sellar, of London, Paris, June 6, 1889, No. 13. In the possession of the dealer Kleinberger, of Paris. Now in the collection of the Marquis d'Aoust, Paris. [Compare 536.] 586*7. A Domestic Scene. Panel, 12 inches by 9^ inches. Sale. Treuer and others, Frankfort-on-the-Main, April 27, 1891, No. 99.
