Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/419

in GERARD DOU 395 waiting at the back. On the window-ledge in front are a pot of pinks, a barber's basin, a skull, and a bottle. Panel, i8 inches by 14 inches. Engraved by J. Taylor. In the Forster Gallery. Sales. Hart Davis, London, 1814 (80 : 175.). Due de Morny, Paris, May 31, 1865, No. 46 (8000 francs). 149. THE OPERATION ON THE HEAD. At an arched window a bald-headed old man sits to the left ; his hat lies on the window- sill. A surgeon wearing a cap operates on the old man's head, holding him by the chin with his left hand. The old man clenches his right hand and makes a grimace of pain. On the window-ledge are pots and surgical implements. In the right background a maid-servant is cleaning a kettle, which she stands on a tub. A curtain hangs from the top of the window. In the left background are shelves full of various objects. To judge from the photograph this picture is an original. Panel, n inches by 9^ inches: In the collection of W. Ritter, Val de Ruz, near Neufchatel. 150. A MAN AND WOMAN AT TABLE. M. 268*. At an arched window, an old man facing the spectator and an old woman in profile to the left sit eating a meal at a table. The man, who wears a broad felt hat, is cutting bread. The woman, who has a white cap and collar, is drinking from a glass. On a table-cloth to the left of the table are a flat fish and a beer-jug. A bird-cage is placed high up in the window. On the window-ledge in front are some carrots and onions to the left, and a gillyflower plant to the right. Panel, 14 inches by 12 inches. It has a false signature of F. van Mieris, to whom it is ascribed in the catalogue. Recognised by Dr. Hofstede de Groot and by Dr. Valentiner inde- pendently as a Gerard Dou. Now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 1891 catalogue, No. 945. 151. A BOY WITH A BIRD-SNARE AND A GIRL WITH A PAIL (or, The Sparrow Bottle). Sm. 57 and Suppl.46 ; M. 264. At an arched window, beneath which is a bas-relief of boys by Duquesnoy, stands a boy holding a snare. A girl, with a pail of eatables on her arm, lays her left hand on the boy's shoulder. Both of them look at a sparrow in a birdcage at the side of the window. A brass chandelier and a greenish curtain hang from the top. A very fine picture, known as " het Mossepotje " (" the sparrow bottle "). Panel, 9 inches by 6 inches, with rounded top. Described by Waagen, iii. 395. Sales. D'Orvielle, Amsterdam, June 15, 1705, No. 3 (noo florins). Amsterdam, September 12, 1708, No. 9 (525 florins). Count van Wassenaar-Obdam, Amsterdam, October 25, 1769 (2700 florins, Fouquet). G. F. J. de Verhulst, Brussels, August 1 6, 1779 (5520 florins; see letter in Martin, ch. v.). Now in the collection of the Duke of Rutland, Belvoir Castle, where it was in 1842 (Sm.).