i JAN STEEN 45 wooden table, round which sit or stand several clownish figures, grasping eagerly at a dish of mussels. On the left a woman is cutting a slice of bread for a child. A boy, sitting on the floor in front of her, is scraping out a pot. In the left-hand corner is a bed, under which are scattered old pots and pans. In front of a big flue on the right an old man is smoking his pipe. A woman with her baby sits on the floor near him. At the open door stands a broad-shouldered man ; one of the poor folk holds out a plate to him. From the ceiling is suspended a wicker cage ; on the wall hangs a set of bagpipes ; a large easel stands near the window behind the bed. Signed in full. Pendant to 121, having the same dimensions and the same history. Sale. Paul Mersch of Paris, at Keller and Reiner's, Berlin, March I, 1905, No. 104. 123. The Starved Family. Sm. 164; W. 123. Ten persons are assembled in a room. Five of them are seated round a table, formed of a board which is placed on a tub. A man of wretched appearance sits on a block, eating mussels. On the other side of the table stands a famished woman with a child in her arms. To the left of her a girl holds out a plate ; two boys sit on the other side of the table. At the back of this group stands the artist, accompanied by an old man who is counting money, which he has apparently received from a poor and emaciated man. Panel, 14^ inches by 17 inches. In the collection of John Slater, in 1833 (Sm.). 124. THE MISER AND DEATH. A man with a cap stands behind a table, on which lie money-bags, a paper with seals, a book, and a cash-box. He is testing a coin, and holds his balance in his left hand. Outside the window on the left stands Death, holding up his hourglass. Signed in full; oak panel, 21 inches by 16^ inches. Purchased in 1763. Now in the Copenhagen Museum, 1904 catalogue, No. 331. 155. The Miser. Sale. Graham, New York, May 23, 1876, No. 136. 126. THE CHOICE BETWEEN AGE AND YOUTH.- In a homely room a young woman sits beside a young man, who looks scornfully upon an old man standing on the other side. The old man offers the woman a ring, which he takes from a casket, filled with silver and jewels, that stands on the table. On the wall to the right hangs a print typifying the ages of man by figures that ascend and descend a ladder. From the ceiling hangs a metal bell, inscribed with the words "Dar ghij socht, socht ick nie " ("Where thou triest, I try not"). Through an open door is seen a peasant interior, across which an old woman with a broom hobbles, leaning on her stick. It is very delicate in execution and in the general effect.
