Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 5, 1913.djvu/80

6 4 GERARD TER BORCH SECT. 2. Sale. P. Roelfsema and others, Groningen, June 22, 1863, No. 81 (in the second anteroom). Engraved in mezzotint by W. Vaillant ; lithographed by Quaglio and Wolffle. In the Electoral Gallery, Munich. In the Schleissheim Gallery, 1775, No. 754. In the Residenz, Munich, 1799, No. 732. In the Aeltere Pinakothek, Munich, 1911 catalogue, No. 388. 174. The Message. In the centre of a room a young lady, seen almost from the back, stands reading a letter which she has taken from a page standing in the left middle distance. She wears a white satin dress, a bodice with dark stripes, and a black cape ; her elaborately dressed hair is adorned with a ribbon. The page has his hair cut short and wears over his simple boyish costume a long shoulder-cape covering his left arm ; he holds his large felt hat under his right arm. In the right foreground, beside the lady, is a table with a long Turkey carpet, on which are a drapery, a mirror, a candlestick, and a box. Between the lady and the page is an arm-chair. In the background is a canopied bed. On the wall to the left is a picture. A very clever and delicate picture. 25^ inches by 20 inches. Sales. J. Palthe, Leyden, March 20, 1770, No. 9 (66 florins, Janssen for Dr. Tak) canvas on panel. P. van Spijk, Leyden, April 23, 1781, No. 102. J. van der Maas and the widow of P. van Spijk, Rotterdam, June 30, 1783, No. 136 (34 florins, Brouw). Amsterdam, April i, 1833, No. 172 (295 florins) canvas. In the collection of the Comte de GrefFulhe, Paris ; see Gazette des Beaux- Art^ 1877, i. p. 3. 175. THE MESSENGER (or, The Interesting Letter). Sm. 33, and Suppl. 10. A young lady, wearing a white satin gown trimmed with dark ribbon, a yellow bodice and a dark cap, sits at a table with a red cover, and reads a letter brought by an old peasant. He stands at an open door on the left ; he wears a grey smock, carries a black leather wallet on his back, and holds his hat and stick in his left hand. On the table are a Delft mug, a candlestick, a shallow dish, and a metal bowl. In the background a mulatto woman draws back the red curtains of a bed. [Compare 179.] Canvas, 24 inches by 23 inches. There are copies : 1. Panel, 23^ inches by 19 inches ; see Sm. Suppl. 10. Lithographed by Huot as a Metsu. Sale. La Valliere, Paris, 1781 (702 francs, Paillet for the Hermitage). In the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 873. 2. Panel, 25 inches by 2o inches. In the Gotha Museum, No. 295. 3. Sale. Amsterdam, January 19, 1778, No. 62. 4. Panel, 18 inches by 13^ inches. [The lady wears a blue velvet jacket bordered with ermine, a grey skirt, and a large cap on her fair curls ; see Sm. 33.]