Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/327

ii GABRIEL METSU 303 162*. A Company at Music. In the collection of Griffier Fagel, 1752 (Hoet, ii. 414) ; but not in the sale of 1801, according to Buchanan (Memoirs of Painting, i. 297). 163. The Concert. A young woman, wearing a grey silk skirt, a blue jacket, and a blue plumed hat, stands in a room playing the lute. Another woman, seated in front of her, holds out on her lap the music- book. A man sitting between them appears to be asking the seated woman a question. In the foreground is a little dog. A table covered with an Oriental carpet stands near an open window to the right ; on the table are a squirrel, a glass of water, and two roses. A landscape hangs on the wall at the back. Panel, 14 inches by 1 1 inches. Sale. Amsterdam, July 4, 1785, No. 229 (29 florins, Motte). 163*7. A Lady at Music. 1 8 inches by 21 inches. Sale. London, 1794 (Coxe). 163^. A well-dressed Lady singing, ii inches by 8 inches. Sale. Amsterdam, November 16, 1819, No. 47 (i florin 15, Van der Berg). - 164. A Music Party. Sm. 53. A lady and two men are at music in a handsomely furnished room. The lady sits at a table covered with an Oriental carpet, holding a guitar in her left hand and music in her right, and appears to be singing. She wears a yellow silk dress embroidered with gold, and a blue silk scarf round her shoulders. A well-dressed man stands near her against the open window and accompanies her. On the right sits the other man in black relieved with ribbons and linen ; he is tuning a violoncello. [The man standing was once thought to be Jan Steen, the man sitting Metsu himself, and the lady Metsu's wife (Sm.).] A flight of steps leads into an adjoining room, where is a maid-servant with a beer-jug. In the foreground is an open chest with music and a flowered cushion on which are a sword and bandolier. "This capital picture is painted with the freedom, spirit, and elegance of Van Dyck " (Sm.). Described by Descamps (ii.) in the Voyer collection. Exhibited in the British Gallery, 1832. Sales. E. Hooft, widow of W. Valkenier, Amsterdam, August 31, 1796, No. 25 (1005 florins, Fouquet). Robit, Paris, May 21, 1801 (4500 francs). Sold to Zachary, 1825, by Sm. (^420). Sale. Zachary, London, 1828 (.525, bought in). Afterwards in the Perkins Collection. 164*. A Music Party. In the Hirsch collection, Wurzburg, 1863 (Parthey, ii. 113). 165. The young Musician. He plays a clarinet with both hands, and leans with his right elbow on a table on which are a music-book, a