iv PIETER DE HOOCH 545 252. The Fortune-Teller. In a room a lady and gentleman sit at a table covered with a green cloth, upon which is a dish of fruit. A gipsy woman is telling the lady's fortune from her hand, while a gipsy boy close by is in the act of stealing something from her pocket. In the background two persons look on. Canvas, 16 inches by 13^ inches. Sales. J. Brade and others, Cologne, December 17, 1897, No. 224. Jos. Metz, Jos. Montag and others, Cologne, December 19, 1904, No. 29. 253. BACKGAMMON PLAYERS. Three figures are seen in an interior. On the table in the middle lies a backgammon board, with a pewter pot. To the left stands a cavalier in greyish brown, half turning his back to the spectator ; he is about to throw the dice on the board. He wears a slouch hat, a sword suspended by a broad shoulder- band, and high boots lined with red. A soldier in yellow with a broad orange girdle sits on the right, holding a pipe in his right hand and watching the players. From the back of his chair hangs his cloak, decorated with buttons. On the other side of the table, between the men and facing the spectator, sits a young woman in white, looking at the seated cavalier j her figure is seen in full light. Behind her is a wooden partition, on which hangs an article of clothing. It is the only signed work of the earliest period. [Compare 270 and 75.] Signed in white on the partition "P de hooch"; panel, 18 inches by 13 inches. Sales. H. Twent, Leyden, August n, 1789, No. 27 (50 florins 10, Coders,, with the pendant, "The Empty Jug" (279)). Baron Van Coehoorn, Amsterdam, October 19, 1801. Purchased for Dublin in 1892. Now in the National Gallery, Dublin, No. 322 in the 1898 catalogue. 254. THE CARD-PLAYERS. Sm. 48; de G. 41. In the right-hand corner of a room with a wooden ceiling and a tiled floor a young lady and a gentleman are playing cards at a table, while two other gentlemen look on. The lady, seated on the right, is about to play a card from her hand. On her right stands a cavalier, holding a pipe in his right hand ; he wears a plumed hat and a doublet of light grey with pink ribbons ; a grey cloak hangs upon a peg to the right. To the right of the lady sits another cavalier with cards in his hand, who glances up at the gentleman. A third young man, bareheaded and seen in full light, sits, with his back half-turned to the spectator, at the right-hand front corner of the table, drinking a glass of wine ; he wears a black velvet jacket, yellow stockings, and high-heeled shoes. By the wall to the right is a couch with red velvet cushions. The room is flooded with light from a large window, divided into four compartments, behind the group. To the left an open door looks into a courtyard, through which a servant-girl comes with a jug and some pipes. Behind her is a house with a passage leading into a garden. This is one of the finest of the master's works. " The extraordinary luminous effect which pervades this picture renders it the admiration of every beholder. It is painted with singular mastery VOL. i 2 N
