Peasants outside an inn with a lime kiln beyond

This intimate cabinet sized landscape is of the type by Teniers that became hugely popular amongst collectors in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They were admired for their jewel-like qualities borne out by their close observation of detail and clarity of execution. A particularly vibrant example was the Riverside Inn (Wallace Collection, London) that became known in the 1830s as 'Le Diamant' and was purchased as such in 1862 by the 4th Marquess of Hertford for 100 gns. - a price that far exceeded what most large-scale landscapes by the artist were fetching at the time. The colourful palette, the pronounced use of light and shade and the precise manner of execution date the present work, like that of the Wallace collection, to circa 1650.