Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/333

ii GABRIEL METSU 309 the table, looks at him, while she takes in her left hand a silver jug from a backgammon board on the table. On the floor in front lie three cards and a broken pipe. At the back to the right is a chimney-piece with Delft plates on it ; to the left is a low cupboard, on the wall above which hangs a violin. " Painted in the artist's brown manner " (Sm.). Signed in full; panel, 14 inches by I2i inches. [Compare 203^.] See Moes, Iconographia Batava, 5005, No. 3 (as Metsu and his wife). Sale. J. van der Marck, Amsterdam, August 25, 1773, No. 176 (800 florins, Fouquet). In the Oppenheim collection, 1833 (Sm.). Sales. Oppenheim, London, 1864 (78 : 155., Smith). Baron de Beurnonville, Paris, May 9, 1881. In the collection of R. Kann, Paris. In the possession of the dealer Ch. Sedelmeyer, Paris, "Catalogue of 300 Pictures," No. 91. Sale. Kums, Antwerp, May 17, 1898, No. 117. 179. The Love-Letter. A young lady in a green jacket trimmed with fur sits at a table, caressing a lapdog with her right hand and hold- ing a letter in the other. Near her is a maid- servant awaiting her orders. Panel, 12 inches by n inches. Sale. Amsterdam, May 18, 1858, No. 35 (1075 florins, De Vries). 1 80. THE SPORTSMAN'S PRESENT. Sm. 92 and Suppl. 25. A young lady, in a red velvet jacket trimmed with ermine, sits facing the spectator at a table covered with an Oriental carpet under a window to the left. She has a lace-pillow on her lap, but leaves off her work to glance with pleasure at a sportsman seated on the right, who has just returned from shooting and offers her a partridge ; with the right hand she makes a gesture of surprise. A little dog standing on the table watches her. The sportsman is dressed in grey ; a setter lays its head upon his knees. To the right are his gun and a dead duck. Behind the group a heavy oak press stands against the wall, with a plaster Cupid on the top of it. Behind it is a picture. " This picture is of admirable quality " (Sm.). Signed in full on the casement ; canvas, 20 inches by 19 inches. Sale. J. Goll van Franckenstein, Amsterdam, July I, 1833, No. 48 (12,400 florins, De Vries for Van der Hoop). In the Van der Hoop collection, Amsterdam. Now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1905 catalogue, No. 1556 (old No. 910). 181. A SPORTSMAN SALUTING A LADY. Sm. 106. On the right a lady stands with folded arms at a toilet table covered with a Turkey carpet. She wears a red jacket, a white satin skirt trimmed with gold lace, and a white cap. She looks with a smile at a cavalier who has just entered from the left and takes off his plumed hat. He has a gun on his shoulder, and carries a dead partridge in his left hand ; beside him is a dog. Behind the lady is an arm-chair ; in the left background is a