x ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE 317 Signed in full on the right near an overturned three-legged stool panel, 17 inches by 23^ inches. In the collection of Colonel Legh, High Legh Hall, Knutsford, Cheshire. In the collection of L. Venon, Paris. In the possession of the Paris dealer F. Kleinberger. In the collection of A. de Ridder, Cronberg, near Frankfort-on-Main. 576. Dwarfs dancing at a Village Inn. Among them is a woman. In front are nine figures ; two are at the back. On a bench to the right are a jug and a cloth. At the back is the fireplace. Panel, 9^ inches by n inches. In the possession of the Paris dealer F. Kleinberger. 576*7. Drunken Peasants at an Inn. [Possibly identical with 588 or 591. Pendant to 6ija.] Exhibited at St. Petersburg, 1908, No. 369, as a Bega. In the collection of I. P. Balaschscheff, St. Petersburg. 577. AN INTERIOR WITH THIRTEEN FIGURES. In the left foreground, round a fire, are grouped five peasants. Farther to the right, another group of five peasants play backgammon ; the light from a window falls on them. At the back are a man sleeping with his head on his elbow, and two boys. An early work, in the style of Isack van Ostade. Signed in full on the left-hand edge in deep shadow ; panel, 17 inches by 24! inches. In the collection of Sir F. Cook, Bart., Richmond, Surrey. 578. BOISTEROUS PEASANTS AT AN INN. In a cottage some men and two women are grouped round a table. In the right foreground one man is spitting. Another man, seated to the left, pipe in hand, looks admiringly at a comrade who dances while holding a glass of wine in his left hand. Behind the two men is a little boy holding a large pewter pot. Farther away, a peasant with his back to the spec- tator stands by the door. In the right middle distance two lovers sit on a bench. Nearer the front a little girl seated on the floor asks a boy for soup ; he is just taking a bowl from a table. On the floor are playing- cards, hens, and a dog gnawing a bone. Signed in full at foot, and dated 1642 ; panel, 17 inches by 22 inches. Acquired by the Empress Catherine II. In the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 955. 579. At the Inn. In the left foreground a man with his back to the spectator holds a stick in his left hand. Farther away, a man who has been drinking sits on a chair, stretching out his hands, in one of which he holds an empty jug, and singing to the music of a bagpiper standing behind him. Near them a smoker leans on a table. This may be a genuine early picture, but is not free from doubt. It hangs in a dark room and cannot be accurately judged. Panel, 5! inches by 6 inches originally oval, but afterwards made rectangular.
