Lot Essay
A picture attributed to Ostade, showing the same figures in reverse but omitting the background, was with S. Nijstad, The Hague, 1984 (possibly identical with Hofstede de Groot 336a). Schnackenburg dates this plate to before 1647, while Slatkes, comparing the graphic qualities to those of The Family and The Barn, B.46 and B.24, both dated 1647, dates it to circa 1646.