Follower of Gerard ter Borch

Prince Paul Demidoff (1839-1885);
His sale, Florence, San Donato, 15 March 1880, lot 1049 (for 6300 francs);
Alfred Beit, London;
By descent to Otto Beit, London, by 1907 (and in his 1913 catalogue, no. 63);
All according to Gudlaugsson (see Literature).

London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1907, no. 11 (as by Ter Borch). 

C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. V, London 1913, p. 57, no. 157 and p. 121, no. 390 (according to Gudlaugsson);
S.J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard Ter Borch, vol. II, The Hague 1959, p. 143, cat. no. 128f (as a copy).

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is in a good condition and the paint layer is stable but slightly raised in some areas. The upper left and right corners have been inexplicably painted out. Apart from the reduction of some pale shrinkage cracks and slight thinness to the shadows of the skirt, the painting is in a good preserved condition with the fine details intact. Removing the discoloured varnish would improve the tonality. Offered in a gilt wood frame in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The composition follows that of Ter Borch's original of 1657 in the Musée Royalde Beaux-Arts, Antwerp, although omits the attendant gentleman standing behind,as well as the architectural column to the left (see S.J. Gudlaugsson, under Literature, vol. I, reproduced p. 287, vol. II, p. 142, cat. no. 128.

A note on the Provenance:
Gudlaugsson identifies both Hofstede de Groot numbers 157 and 390 with this painting, and the provenance above is based on this assumption. Although Hofstede de Groot slightly miscatalogues the lady's clothing in his entry on no. 157, both labels on the reverse of the painting would argue for an identification of the work with no. 157, one giving the Demidoff provenance, and the other apparently being a (damaged) feuilleton from Jules Janin's Journal des Débats, both of which are mentioned by De Groot. No. 390 is a less obvious identification, it not describing the lute (or 'mandoline').