1 56 JAN STEEN SECT. 598. A MERRY COMPANY. In a tavern a man and woman dance to the music of a fiddler on the right. Behind them are persons sitting or standing ; on the left a boy in a red jacket draws beer from a cask. In a gallery men are drinking ; two other persons are on the stairs leading to the gallery. Signed in full j canvas, 25 inches by 32 inches. Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1883, No. 241. In the collection of Thomas Hardcastle, London. 599. A MERRYMAKING IN A TAVERN. W. 49. In a vaulted hall a numerous company is assembled. At the back is a krge table, covered with dishes, round which sit several guests drinking and raising their glasses. On the left. sits an old woman praying. Behind her in an alcove, on the floor of which lie domestic utensils, two men con- verse with a woman. In the centre of the hall a couple dance to the music of a bagpiper standing on a bench near the table and a fiddler sitting above the door. On the right Jan Steen himself sits with his legs crossed on a chair near a pillar ; his head is bare, and he looks with a smile at the spectator ; in his right hand he holds a large glass and his hat. In the foreground a woman is suckling her child. A boy offers food to a cat, which looks angrily at a dog that enters the room. High up are a brass chandelier, and branches hanging from a long pole. Signed with the monogram at the foot of the pillar to the left ; canvas, 29! inches by 26 inches. Sales. G. Schimmelpenninck, Amsterdam, July 12, 1819, No. 113 (1005 florins, Brondgeest). C. A. van Ourijk and others, Rotterdam, July 19, 1848, No. 79 (1260 florins, Lamme). H. de Kat of Dordrecht, Paris, May 2, 1866, No. 78 (6800 francs). In the collection of the Marquess of Hertford, and of Sir Richard Wallace. Now in the Wallace collection, London, 1901 catalogue, No. 158. 600. THE EGG DANCE. Sm. no; W. 297. A large com- position of about forty figures. In the centre five peasant men and women dance round an egg. In the foreground are a bagpiper and a young man asleep. Behind them is a fiddler. Various loving couples ascend and descend the staircase in the background. At the door on the right two gentlemen lead in a lady of distinguished appearance. To the left is a table surrounded by jovial men and women. The walls and the ceiling are adorned with branches. There are fine details and admirable effects of light, but the composition is restless. Signed, although the catalogue does not mention the fact ; canvas, 43 inches by 52 inches. Described by Waagen (ii. 273). Exhibited at the British Gallery, 1821, 1848, and 1856. Sales. (?) Amsterdam, July n, 1788, No. 89 (i florin, Roos) ; the lowness of the price makes it doubtful whether this was the picture described above. Le Rouge, Paris, 1818 (3010 francs, the first Duke of Wellington).
