This present painting is one of several studio replicas and copies of a lost original by Brouwer. Other versions include that in the Kellner Collection, Vienna, sold in Berlin, Dec. 3, 1929, lot 21 (see W. von Bode, Adriaen Brouwer, Seine Leben und Sein Werk, 1924, fig. 1); sale, Amsterdam, July 13, 1926, lot 657 (as by D. Teniers; 31 x 25 cm.); with Steinmeyer, Lucerne, after 1913; with de Heuvel, Brussels, 1947. A copy was in the Van Marle-Bignell sale, The Hague, February 24, 1942, lot 23, (panel 30 x 24 cm.)

An upright version of this composition was engraved by Jonas Suyderhoef (1613-1686), perhaps after Brouwer's lost original. Margret Klinge believes the present lot to be the best quality of the copies she has seen (private communication, Sept. 14, 1994). We are grateful to her for her assistance in cataloguing this lot