Lot Essay
A drawing in pen and brown ink of a man and woman conversing, showing the man in the same sense, is in the Prentenkabinet der Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden (Schnackenburg, op.cit., no. 538, as attributed to Isack van Ostade), which Slatkes tentatively attributes to Adriaen (op.cit., pp. 229-30). The figure seems to be using his cloak as a sling for his left arm, which is not in his left sleeve. His left hand is sticking out of his cloak, while he is possibly correcting the position of his left arm with his right hand. The size of this plate and the previous lot, B.21, is the same. It would seem possible that, as the figures face each other, they were intended as a pair or indeed previously one plate. Their dating is comparable: Schnackenburg dates this plate and B.21 to circa 1647-52, while Slatkes dates this to before 1647, B.21 to circa 1647.