xiv MEINDERT HOBBEMA 379 to right and left. At the fork of the roads is a man in red. Beyond is a cottage amid trees. A stream flows from the pool to the front ; it is crossed by a plank. Light-grey tone. The green is much more true to nature than in most of Hobbema's large pictures, and the red of the tiled roof is more modest in tone. A delicate and unpretentious work. [See 66.] Signed in small white letters on the plank in the centre foreground ; canvas, 14 inches by 13^ inches. A sketch for the picture is in the Teyler Museum, Haarlem, portfolio R, No. 37. In the collection of Joseph Barchard, London ; sold privately in 1826. Sale. Nieuwenhuys, London, May 10, 1833 (158 : us.). In the collection of Henry Bevan, London, 1835 (Sm.). Sale. Sir E. J. Dean Paul, London, June 27, 1896 (1552 : ios.). In the collection of Baron A. von Oppenheim, Cologne, 1904 catalogue, No. 1 8. 76. A VILLAGE, WITH WATER-MILLS. Sm. 61. In the left middle distance a water-mill stands on the right bank of a stream which flows to the front and fills almost the whole foreground, where a few ducks are on the water. A tall tree with a gnarled stem, growing on the right bank in the centre foreground, breaks the line of the building beyond. On the left bank are trees and undergrowth. The great water- wheel to the left of the mill is supported on piling ; nearer the front planks are laid on piles across the stream. To the right of the mill, beyond a clump of trees, are two other mills, also with undershot wheels ; the centre mill is partly hidden by a clump of trees in the right foreground ; the mill on the right is almost entirely cut ofF by the frame. The open space in front of the mills is in sunlight. On the river bank in front are two anglers, one of whom is seated while the other stands ; beyond them are a woman and a boy. In the right foreground a mass of foliage hangs over the water. A fine sky with light clouds ; four birds are flying on the left, and five on the right. Signed in full ; panel, 23^ inches by 32 inches. In the possession of Vaillant, Amsterdam, who sold it to Sm. in 1824. Bought by Sir Robert Peel from Sm. in or shortly after 1824 (for 525). In the collection of Sir Robert Peel, Bart., 1835 (Sm.) ; bought for the National Gallery in 1871. In the National Gallery, London, 1906 catalogue, No. 832. 77. A WATER-MILL IN A VILLAGE NEAR A CHURCH. Sm. 51. In front is a sheet of water, bounded in the left middle distance by a dyke, on which a path runs beside a high wall. Above the wall rise the upper part of a great church and some house-roofs. In the right centre is an undershot water-mill built on wooden piles. On a platform in front of it a man holds a basket-net in the water. To the left, at the foot of steps leading to the water, is a washerwoman. A very good picture. Signed, and dated 1657 (?) according to Sm. and Waagen, but this date, considering the developed style of the picture, is scarcely possible ; panel, 14 inches by 20 inches.
