Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/194

i ;o JAN STEEN SECT. 649. A Rustic Feast. W. 289. Peasants are drinking and dancing in an arbour in front of an inn. In the foreground a man offers a glass of wine to a stout comrade who holds his wife's hands. A little girl rides on a hobby-horse. In the background to the right a crowd presses round tents set up in front of the houses. Panel, ~] inches by 9^ inches. [Compare 634.] Sales. Hen's, Brussels, June 19, 1846, No. 72. Baron de Beurnonville, Paris, May 9, 1 88 1, No. 484. 650. A Halt in the Courtyard of an Inn. In the courtyard of a country inn numerous travellers are seen to right and left. The innkeeper offers a glass to a well-dressed woman, while the ostlers water the horses. In the background is an old gateway, built on to the inn. To the left is a wood in shadow. Signed on the right ; canvas, 28| inches by 24 inches. Sale. Baron de Beurnonville, Paris, May 9, 1881, No. 476. 651. Gipsies Resting". Numerous figures are assembled in a land- scape with a stream. In front a man wearing a large felt hat lies prone on the ground, and watches a woman who is plucking a duck beside a three- legged pot. A boy comes forward along the side of a road ; his dog is drinking from the stream. A woman, seated on a mound with her head resting on her hands, is asleep. Near her a gipsy woman with a child on her lap is conversing with a young man. In the background passes a milkmaid with a red jacket. To the left a cavalier courts a young girl, whom he holds by the hand. The couple are annoyed by two young vagabonds, one of whom stretches out his hand. Canvas, 25 inches by 20 inches. Sale. E. Ruelens, Brussels, April 17, 1883, No. 255. 652. The Fair at Warmond. Sm. Suppl. 59 ; W. 94. About thirty persons are assembled in front of a country inn. In the foreground are seated the artist's family. He himself sits on the ground, leaning against a bench ; he wears a large hat, has a pipe in his hand, and con- verses with an old man selling crabs at his side. His wife sits beside him suckling an infant boy. Behind her is their eldest son, who is laughing with delight as he takes cherries from his hat and puts them into a wicker basket. Behind this group several couples are performing a round dance to the music of a boy fiddler and a hurdy-gurdy player, who stands on a table. At the back peasants sit at a table drinking and smoking. In the centre of the picture, near a large tree, a man salutes another well-dressed man with his back to the spectator, who is shaking hands with a country girl accompanied by an old woman. Near them a well-dressed man points out this scene to a lady with two children. Farther away are a little girl and a boy with a dog ; a peasant shows the boy a bird. On the bank of a stream a milkmaid empties a copper pot and converses with a peasant who leans with both hands on a stick. Here and there are other groups. On the right, at the entrance to a stable-yard, from which comes a waggon with two horses, are a woman with two pails and a beggar. In the centre of a landscape background is a castle.