ioo JAN STEEN SECT. Upon a shelf are a candlestick and a book ; a tablet near a skull is inscribed, " Gedenckt te sterven " (" Think of death "). This is an exceptionally fine and attractive work. Signed in full beneath the stanza on the wall, and dated 1660 ; panel, 2o inches by 17^ inches. Described by Waagen (ii. 268, and Suppl. 108). Exhibited at the British Gallery, 1819; at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1879, No. 54; 1889, No. 69; and 1907, No. 73. Sales. J. Enschede, Haarlem, May 30, 1786, No. 22. B. Ocke, Leyden, April 21, 1817, No. 128 (440 florins, Ocke said to be on canvas). E. M. Engelberts, Amsterdam, August 25, 1817, No. 91 (275 florins, De Vries said to be on canvas). [A picture of a similar subject, on panel, measuring 22 inches by i8 inches, was in the sale of B. E. L. Baron' Collot d'Escury, Leeuwarden, October 17, 1831, No. 33.] Imported into England by the dealer Chaplin, 1831. Now in the Charles Morrison collection, London. 376. GRACE BEFORE MEAT. Sm. Suppl. 89; W. 134. A man, his wife, and three children sit in a well-furnished room round a table, on which is a homely meal. The eldest boy is saying grace. The mother, wearing a black dress and white apron, sits to the left in profile. The father sits on the other side, praying with hat in hand. Behind him a young woman holding a jug descends a staircase. Signed in the bottom left-hand corner j panel, 19 inches by 17 inches. Exhibited in London, 1839. In the collection of Colonel Fitzgibbon, 1842 (Sm.). Now in the collection of the Marquis d'Aoust, Paris. 377. GRACE BEFORE MEAT. The family sit in an arbour before a house, round a barrel which serves as table. To the right is the father on a low stool ; he holds his cap before his face and prays. The mother, with a child in her arms, sits on a bench. A boy stands hat in hand and looks up devoutly. On the barrel is a large dish ; in the fore- ground a poodle steals food from a pot. [Cf. 381.] Signed in full ; canvas, 23 inches by 30 inches. Copies in the possession of Glitza, Hamburg ; at Ltitzschena ; and in the sale, Amsterdam, December 9, 1902, No. 56 (425 florins, Vos). Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1885, No. in. Formerly in the collection of Colonel Hankey, Hastings. In the possession of the dealer Ch. Sedelmeyer, Paris, "Catalogue of ioo Paintings," 1900, No. 42. 378. A FAMILY AT TABLE (or, "Grace before Meat"). Sm. 167 ; W. 177. A little girl says grace ; the mother serves soup from a brown pot ; the father cuts the bread. The eldest boy, a son of the artist, looks at the spectator. It is a charming little picture, delicate in expression. Signed in full in the left-hand bottom corner ; panel, 16 inches by 14 inches.
