x ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE 285 and Suppl. 21. A countrywoman, with a little child on her lap, sits at the back before the fire. To the left of her sits a man in an arm-chair. At the window to the left are a cradle and a table covered with a white cloth, on which are a knife, a loaf, and a jug. To the right, nearer the front, a man ascends a ladder. In the style in which Isack followed Adriaen. "This excellent picture has become a little sombre from the protrusion of the brown hues" (Sm.). [Compare 384.] Signed in full on the right, and dated 1642 ; panel, 13^ inches by inches. Engraved in the Musee Napoleon. Apparently it must be identical with " Le Menage Rustique," imperfectly described by Sm. (195) as "The Interior of a Room with a Woman rocking a Child in a Cradle," since there is no other such picture in the Louvre ; but Sm. 195 was valued by the experts in 1816 at 3000 francs, whereas Sm. 51 and Suppl. 21 was valued by the experts in 1816 at 15,000 francs. Sales. Le Brun, Paris, December 20, 1773, (3120 francs). Comte de Vaudreuil, Paris, November 24, 1784, No. 37 (1201 francs, Paillet). In the Louvre, Paris, 1902 catalogue, No. 24.98. 469. A PEASANT FAMILY AT HOME. In the foreground is a group of three children. One on the right drinks from a large jug which a second child hands forward. An old woman sits cooking on the left, with her back to the group. Between them is another woman, holding a jug in front of her. An early work in pale tones of blue, yellow, grey, and pink. Signed in full on a cask to the right j panel, 10 inches by 13 inches. In the possession of the Paris dealer F. Kleinberger, June 1908. 470. A Mother combing her Child's Hair in a Cottage Interior. Near the seated woman stands a bigger boy. On the right are vegetables and cooking utensils. Panel, 10 inches by 13 inches. In the collection of Jules Porges, Paris. In the possession of the Paris dealer F. Kleinberger. 471. A PEASANT FAMILY AT HOME. A woman sits on a chair, winding yarn. To the left beside her are three children ; the youngest sits in an infant's chair, playing with a doll. Next sits a little boy on a foot-warmer, stretching out his arms to the doll. A girl of about six, holding a piece of bread, stands behind her baby sister. On the left, the father cleans a bird-cage ; two boys watch him, one of them sitting on the window-seat, while the other is outside. Domestic utensils are strewn about. At the back is a bed, with a table beside it ; to the left is a stove. A man goes out at a door in the centre. The picture seems to have been enlarged on all sides and made into an oval, but the only visible traces of these additions are on the left side and at the bottom. It dates from about 1665. Signed in full on the left at foot ; panel, in an oval frame, 19 inches by 22 inches.
