1 72 JAN STEEN SECT. and scarlet stockings and a woman in a blue dress ; a boy near them is blowing bubbles. Beyond a fence is a man with a basket on his head. To the right of him two people are conversing. Beyond them are a church-tower and the booths of a village fair. Signed in full in the left-hand bottom corner, and dated 1663 ; canvas, 42 inches by 59 inches. A replica, with the composition reversed and a few changes in detail, and " painted in a more neat and careful manner " (Sm.), was in the Wilkinson sale, London, 1828 (.114 : 95.), and in the collection of Charles Brind in 1833 ; it was on panel, and measured 22^ inches by 30^ inches. Described by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Nagler, Waagen (ii. 1 1 8). Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1881, No. 124 ; and at the South Kensington Museum, 1891, No. 25. In the collection of J. Bisschop, Rotterdam, 1752 (Hoet, ii. 530), which was purchased as a whole by the Hopes in 1771. In the collection of Philip Henry Hope, 1833 (Sm.). In the collection of Lord Francis Pelham Clinton Hope, Deepdene, which was purchased as a whole by P. and D. Colnaghi and A. Wertheimer in 1898. 656. A MERRY RUSTIC COMPANY. In the background is a waggon. It is weak and of doubtful authenticity. 8 inches by io| inches. [Compare 634.] Sale. W. Baines and others, London, March 8, 1902, No. 147 (50 : 8s.). 657. THE MERRY HOME-COMING. Sm. 25 ; W. 2.- Some country men and women, in a merry mood, have left an inn placed amidst trees to the right and enter a boat. Near the boatman sits a woman with a child at her breast. A man and a woman support a drunken man. A boy at the back holds the boat fast ; another boy sits in the bows. At the door of the inn are a man and a woman ; a laughing peasant, with a glass in one hand and a jug in the other, comes towards the boat. The expression of the figures is full of character and life. The execution is somewhat sketchy. Signed in full to the right on the edge of the boat ; canvas, 27 inches by 39! inches. Sale. G. Braamcamp, Amsterdam, July 31, 1771, No. 214 (360 florins, J. Odon). In the National Museum at the Hague, 1808. In the Amsterdam Museum, 1833 (Sm.). Now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1905 catalogue, No. 2239. 658. THE INN GARDEN. Sm. Suppl. 45 ; W. 164. In the foreground, at a rustic table in an arbour, sits Jan Steen, with a smiling face. He is eating a herring. Opposite him a woman lets a boy drink from a cup. A youth cries crabs for sale. Other guests sit at the table or walk about ; among them is a man conversing with a serving- man. The composition is good and the characterisation very delicate. The chiaroscuro also is well studied. Signed in full on a cross-bar of the table ; canvas, 27 inches by 23 inches.
