Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/584

SECT. 5 6o PIETER DE HOOCH Sold by Smith in 1822 (for 300). In the collection of W. Wells of Redleaf in 1833 (Sm.). ^le, W. Wells, London, May 12, 1848 (.540 : 155., Farrer). In Lord Overstone's collection in 1857 (Waagen). Now in the collection of Lady Wantage, London, No. 108 in the 1902 catalogue. 298. YOUNG WOMAN IN A BLEACHING-GROUND WITH A CHILD. Sm. Suppl. 24 ; de G. 72. The woman wears a red jacket with yellow sleeves and a blue skirt, and is in the act of taking linen from a basket. In the background to the right are two figures. To the left a gentleman is walking along a narrow path between trees. In the distance rise the towers of the old and new churches of Delft. One tower formerly had an opening for a clock, but this was afterwards filled up. The lighting suggests a fine summer morning. This is the finest example of P. de Hooch in Paris. Signed at the bottom to the left " P D HOOGE " ; canvas, 29 inches by 24! inches. Formerly in the possession of the dealer Farrer, London. Now in the collection of the Baron Edouard de Rothschild, Paris. 299. COURTYARD WITH AN ARBOUR. Sm. 47, Suppl. 15 ; de G. 53. The spectator looks upon a house, built of red and yellowish- grey stone. Through it runs a lofty arched passage paved with tiles, giving a view of a canal with trees. On the steps of the archway, in the fore- ground, sits a little girl, wearing a grey jacket and yellow frock, with a dog on her lap. Beneath a vine-clad arbour, in a recess formed by the wall and the corner of the house, sit two men at a table. One of them wears a black hat and jacket, and grey breeches, red garters, and white stockings ; the other is dressed in brownish grey. In front of the second man stands a woman with a glass of wine in her hand ; she wears a white bodice, a blue petticoat, and, turned up over it, a light purplish-grey skirt. A grey cloak, a black bandolier, and a sword hang on a red window-sill to the left. Various objects, among which are a cask and a pot, add to the picturesque effect of the scene, which is brightly illumined by daylight. The court- yard is paved partly with yellow bricks, partly with grey stone. The whole picture is luminous in tone, but the lights and shadows in the passage are too slightly contrasted. Above the archway is the same inscription as in the London National Gallery picture (291), to which this forms a pendant. Of the five-line inscription only fragments are legible, as follows : (i) . . . ; (2) wy j (3) sa ; (4) w . . . wy ; (5) willen wy . . . 1614. [Compare the inscription in 291.] Signed, on the doorpost in the middle, " P D H 1658 " ; panel (Sm. says canvas), 26^ inches by 22| inches. Mentioned by Waagen (Supplement, p. 323). Exhibited at the British Gallery, London, 1839, and at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, London, 1881, No. 101. Sale. J. F. Wolschot, Antwerp, September i, 1817. Bought in Berlin, a few years before 1833, by Edward Solly. Sale. Edward Solly, London, 1837 G535 : ids.).