502 EGLON HENDRIK VAN DER NEER SECT. finished. The sale-catalogue hesitates between E. H. van der Neer and Pieter de Hooch as the painter. Canvas, 29^ inches by 24^ inches. Sale.}, de Kommer, Amsterdam, April 15, 1767, No. 38 (9 florins, Jan Booms). 1 08. A Lady reading a Letter. In a room a lady stands at a table, holding a letter. Beside her is a maid-servant. Through a door on the left are seen two other figures. Very delicate and well painted. Panel, 14^ inches by I2| inches. Sale.]. Viet, Amsterdam, October 12, 1774, No. 152 (100 florins, Yver). 109. A Lady writing and an Old Woman. A young lady, wearing a red velvet jacket trimmed with white fur and a satin skirt, sits writing at a table with a cover. Beside her is an old woman, counting on her fingers and apparently dictating to the younger woman. Canvas, 26 inches by 30 inches. Sale. F. J. O. Boymans, Utrecht, August 31, 1811, No. A. 61. no. INTERIOR WITH TWO OLD MEN. They are at a table. Behind them a youth looks towards the door. Signed in full. In the Schager-Strom collection, Stockholm ; see Granberg, Les Collections privets de la Suede, p. 404. in. TWO BOYS PLAYING WITH A BIRD. On a bench to the right is a large wicker bird-cage. A big boy leans on it from the left, holding in both hands some birds whose heads alone are visible ; he watches them with an attentive smile. To the right of him, a younger boy in a broad-brimmed red hat with a feather leans his left hand on the bird-cage, and throws his right hand round the elder boy's neck. In front of this group is a large full pot on which a cat crouches, looking from the left at the bird-cage. To the right of them is green foliage. On the left edge of the foreground is a high pedestal with a marble head. Behind it is a statue of an almost nude female figure. To the right, and farther back, two persons, a man and a woman, walk away. In the distance are trees, with a view of hills beyond to the left. [Pendant to 117 (Stock- holm). Cf. 112, 115.] Signed in full on the left at foot ; panel, 10 inches by 8 inches. In the Salzdahlum Gallery. In the Brunswick Gallery, 1910 catalogue, No. 320. 112. CHILDREN WITH A BIRD-CAGE AND A CAT. Sm. 4. Half-length. Behind a stone window with an arched top is a richly dressed boy with a slashed doublet, a velvet cloak, and a plumed cap on his long curls. He looks with a smile down to the right, where a cat sits in front of the window, looking to the left at a large wicker bird- cage, the door of which stands open. The boy holds the cage in his right hand, and points with the left to the bird fluttering in the cage. On the window-sill in front of the cage is a broken earthenware dish. To the
