xvii GERARD TER BORCH 45 raising his hands to protect himself from the knife which the kneeling soldier raises in his right hand. A young man with long hair and a cap tries to prevent the blow falling. In the left background a peasant with a pair of tongs rushes down a short staircase which leads from an adjacent room. On the floor in front are a drum, the combatants' hats, overturned chairs, and scattered playing-cards. Panel, 14 inches by 16 inches. Engraved in reverse by J. Suyderhoef. Sale. Remond, Paris, July 6, 1778 (200 francs). I22a. Two Persons fighting. A room with many weapons, and two persons fighting. Panel, 15^ inches by 14 inches. Sale. H. A. Bauer and others, Amsterdam, September n, 1820, No. 8 (8 florins 10, Mensart). 123. TWO PERSONS AT MUSIC. A gentleman, facing the spectator, stands on the right behind a table covered with a Persian carpet ; he is practising a song. On the left a young lady in a red jacket and a white satin gown stands facing right. She holds a mandoline in her right hand and with her left hand lays a piece of music on the table. On the back wall are a picture and a drapery. A very good picture in some passages, but in others, such as the curtains and the table-cover, not very delicate. Apparently a replica by the artist of 128 (Kassel). The signature and date are forged ; panel, 24^ inches by 1 inches. In the collection of J. B. M. Bourguignon de Fabregoules, bequeathed to the Aix Museum in 1863. In the Aix Museum, Provence, 1901 catalogue, No. 374. 124. A LADY PLAYING THE MANDOLINE, WITH A GENTLEMAN. Sm. 60. In a handsome room a young lady sits in a red velvet chair beside a table with a richly embroidered cover, playing the mandoline. She wears a grey dress and a red bodice partly covered by a black kerchief; her fair curls are tied back with silk bows. She looks attentively at a music-book lying on the table before her, close to another volume. Beside her to the right stands a young cavalier in a grey cloak, with a broad-brimmed black felt hat under his arm. He turns his head to the right, as if speaking to a person no longer visible in the picture. On the left is the hearth. Three-quarter length. [Cf. 133 for a replica of the woman's figure.] Panel, 15 inches by I2| inches. A copy was in the sale : Maria Theresia Wittebol and De Labistraeten, Antwerp, June 19, 1804, No. 174 (50 florins) canvas, 20 inches by 16^ inches. Sales. L. B. Coders, Amsterdam, August 7, 1811, No. 74 (600 florins, G. Muller). G. Muller, Amsterdam, April 2, 1827, No. 69 (810 florins, Brond- geest). In the possession of the London dealer John Smith, 1833. Sm. sold it in 1835 to Heris of Brussels, who sold it to Van der Schrieck of Louvain.
