i JAN STEEN 33 Paintings," 1899, No. 52 (formerly in the collection of Benjamin Ansley, Roundhay, Leeds); this (31 inches by 39 inches) was No. 177 in the sale' May i97 (364). Sales. Amsterdam, 1712 (101 florins). J. H. van Heemskerck, The Hague, March 29, 1770 (555 florins). Amsterdam, December 5, 1796, No. 103 (365 florins, van Santen). In the possession of the dealer O'Niel, 1828 (price, 300 guineas). In the collection of Charles Brind, 1833. In the Van der Hoop collection, Amsterdam, 1842. Now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1903 catalogue, No. 2238 (formerly No. 1376). 89. THE MERRY PARTY ("Soo de ouden songen, soo pijpen de jongen"). Sm. Suppl. 38 ; W. 36. An old couple celebrate their golden wedding. They sit at table with their daughter, who dances a child on her knees ; the old woman is singing, while the son-in-law accompanies her on the bagpipes. The old man, who appears delighted with the song, holds up a goblet of wine in his right hand. On the left a boy lets his young sister drink out of a pewter tankard ; she holds the spout in her right hand, and has a flute in her left. Upon a cupboard at the back are two pewter plates. Above, to the left, is a window. From the ceiling hangs olive-green drapery, which is wound from left to right round a pillar. Upon the pillar is the proverb. Signed in full on the pillar ; panel, 14 inches by u^ inches. In the collection of Baron Nagell van Ampsen, The Hague, 1842. Sales. Nagell van Ampsen, The Hague, September 5, 1851, No. 46 (700 florins, Van de Wijnpersse). D. van de Wijnpersse, The Hague, March I, 1871, No. 15 (1410 francs, Van Gogh, Brussels). John W. Wilson of Brussels (1873 catalogue, p. 119), Paris, 1881. 90. THE MERRY PARTY ( Soo de ouden songen, soo pijpen dejongen"). Sm. 116; W. 9. Eleven persons are assembled in the house of the artist, who sits behind the table in the middle distance, facing the spectator ; he has a pipe in his mouth. To the right is his wife, in a blue jacket trimmed with white fur ; she is filling a pipe. Another woman sits on the right of the artist. All three look smilingly at the young son of Jan Steen, who with a solemn face is playing the flute. By the hearth to the left, the grandfather is singing from a music- book. A bagpiper, standing behind Jan Steen, accompanies him. The grandmother, in the left foreground, dances a child on her knee. In the foreground are a dog with a brown and white coat, an earthenware dish, a cooking-pan, and a mortar. On the right a little girl seizes a cat by the ear. Beside the window in the background a young woman offers a young man a glass of wine. On the chimney-piece is a sheet of paper, bearing the proverb. It is a good work of the artist's, although the composition is somewhat crowded. Signed in full on the mortar, and apparently dated " 165 "; canvas, 34 inches by 37 inches. In the collection of the Stadtholder William V. (Terw. p. 711). Now in the Royal Picture Gallery at The Hague, 1895 catalogue, No. 169. VOL. I D
