Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 2, 1909.djvu/612

59 6 PHILIPS WOUWERMAN SECT. commencement of the artist's third manner, and is of the most esteemed quality " (Sm.). Signed in the right centre with the full monogram ; canvas, 24^ inches by 31 1 inches. Mentioned by Waagen (ii. 202) ; by Ch. Blanc, Le Tresor de la Curiosite, i. 356, ii. 189 ; and by W. Btirger, Tresors d' Art en Angkterre, 298. Exhibited at Manchester, 1857, No. 988 ; at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, London, 1877, No. 148 ; and at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1900, No. 51. In the Lubbeling collection, according to Blanc. Sales. Randon de Boisset, Paris, February 3, 1777, No. 87 (12,000 francs, Donjeux). Claude Tolozan, Paris, 1801 (6550 francs). Exhibited in the collection of the Duchesse de Berry for private sale, London, 1834 (bought for 560 by Woodburn). In the collection of R. S. Holford, London, 1849. In the collection of Lieutenant-Colonel G. L. Holford, London. 1031. RIDING AT THE CAT. Sm. 67 and Suppl. 39. Near an inn on a river-bank to the right several horsemen are engaged in a cruel old sport. A live cat is tied by its hind legs to a rope drawn across the road from a high pole to an attic window of the inn. A peasant gallops under the rope and grasps at the cat, which scratches him on the arm. Two other horsemen are in the left foreground ; one looks at the scratches which he has received. On the right a fourth man mounts a grey horse. Farther away the innkeeper gives drink to a cavalier. At the back are numerous spectators, two horsemen, and a coach and pair. On the left a rider waters his horse at the river. In the distance are bathers. "The cool freshness of the surrounding country is admirably relieved by a brilliant sky " (Sm.). A fine picture, but one of the figures on the right is too ultramarine-blue. Signed on the right at foot with the full monogram ; canvas, 26^ inches by 38 inches. Mentioned by Ch. Blanc, Le Tresor de la Curiosite, i. 125. Sale. Prince de Rubempre', Brussels, April n, 1765 (Terw. 401), No. 87 (4500 florins). In the collection of Count Cobentzl, Brussels; bought in 1771 by Prince Galitzin for the Empress Catherine II. In the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 995 (Sm. valued it in 1842 at ^1000). 1031*. Peasants shooting at the Bird. In a landscape before a cottage. 25 inches by 21 inches. Sale. Nicolas Selhof, The Hague, March 28, 1759 (Terw. 210), No. I (150 florins). 1032. The Archers. Sm. 282. Several men and boys, with bows and arrows, shoot at a bird fixed on top of a pole. Sale. General Verdier, Paris, 1816 (1400 francs).