This is a preparatory study for the artist's painting (Hofstede de Groot no. 777, present whereabouts unknown) which was engraved in reverse by Jan de Visscher (Hollstein XLI, no. 19, illustrated), an impression of which is offered with the drawing. Trautscholdt (op.cit.) dated this to the 1630s, while Schnackenburg more specifically to circa 1633-4. He points out (op.cit., p. 43) that at least seven of Ostade's drawings from the 1630s, including the present lot, can be related to his pictures of that time, also (op.cit., p. 39) noting the influence of Adriaen Brouwer in Ostade's early career. Schnackenburg lists only six drawings from the period before 1635. This drawing, which is typical of Ostade's work of the 1630s with its strong contrasts in light and dark, has also been described as the interior of an inn. It pictures a woman holding her nose, and may have been intended as (a design for) part of a series illustrating the Five Senses. The Sense of Touch from that series could be Schnackenburg's no. 18. A copy after the present lot is in the Art Institute, Chicago.