xi ISACK VAN OSTADE 503 206. A Fair. A village street stretches from the right foreground to the left background, with houses on one side. In front of these are various groups, in all about seventy figures. In the right foreground peasants drink and jest ; some couples dance to the music of a fiddler and a piper. Nearer the centre is a group of peasants drinking and children at play. Between these groups a waggon with two horses is drawn up. In it are ten drunken persons singing loudly. Behind, to the left, are other groups. In the extreme left background peasants and women have thrown them- selves between two topers who are quarrelling ; one man lies on the ground. Signed in full in the centre at foot ; panel, 2o inches by 32 inches. Sales. Neven, Cologne, March 17, 1879, No. 165. 207. A Fair Scene. In the foreground of a landscape are many peasants, with a waggon full of people ; the horse stands at a trough. On the right is a view of the village street. Signed in full ; panel, 20 inches by 27^ inches. Sale. F. Hermesdorff and others, Munich, December 14, 1905, No. 156. 207*. Peasants at the Feast of St. Nicholas. Sale. Amsterdam, May 9, 1792, No. 152. 208. A LITTLE BOY SINGING BALLADS. In the collection of Earl Spencer, Althorp. 209. AN OLD FIDDLER OUTSIDE A COTTAGE. Sm. 60. He stands in the left middle distance playing his fiddle. Near him to the right sits a peasant holding a glass in his left hand. Before this man, to the right, sits another man smoking a long clay pipe and holding a jug in his left hand, as he watches the fiddler. A woman, standing behind him to the left and leaning on a wall, looks at him. In the left foreground three children listen to the music ; in the right foreground are two dogs. Behind the figures is a cottage, with a tree to the left. On the right steps lead up to a little open balcony, in which stands a little girl. Panel, 15^ inches by 13 inches. Mentioned by Waagen, ii. 14. Exhibited at the British Institution, London, 1826 and 1827. In the Royal collection, Buckingham Palace, London, 1885 catalogue, No. I 59 ; it was in the Royal collection, 1829 (Sm.). 210. A Flute-Player outside a House. About fifteen listeners. On the right a horse feeds at a trough. On the extreme right is a landscape vista. On the road are two cows and two hens. Signed in full on the left at foot, and dated 1648 ; panel, 1 8 inches by 26 inches. In the collection of the late C. T. Yerkes, New York, 1904 catalogue, No. 74 ; sold, New York, April 7 and 8, 1910. 211. AN OLD WOMAN SINGING, WITH OTHER PEASANTS. In a thatched cottage an old woman sits to the left
