Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade

Montribloud, Paris;
His sale, Paris, 9 February 1784, lot 27, sold for 2000 francs;
William Wells, Redleaf, 1829;
His sale, London, Christie's, 12 May 1848, lot 104, sold for £204 15s;
Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland;
Thence by descent to The Trustees of  Raby Settled Estate;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 29 November 1974, lot 79;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a German Collector"), London, Sotheby's, 5 July 1984, lot 264;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 5 June 1986, lot 64;
There acquired by the present collector.

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, London 1829, Part I, p. 131, cat. no. 83;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, London 1910, Vol. III, p. 401, cat. no. 845.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel is in beautiful condition. The wood itself is made from a single piece of oak with no reinforcements on the reverse. The paint layer has been fairly recently restored. There is a break in the wood beginning in the upper right in the roof of the building, but the restoration seems only to correct these small losses halfway down the piece. There are a few other spots of restoration in the upper portion of the picture on the right and in the darkest colors in the upper left, and there are probably a few other retouches in the center left in the background. However, the figures and the bulk of the remainder of the painting are all beautifully preserved.
"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."

This rustic interior with a group of peasants enjoying a game of cards is a particularly fine example of Ostade's work of the 1650s.  Typical of this middle period of the artist's career are the greater sense of depth to the composition and the use of strong coloring on the figures, allowing them to stand out emphatically from the monochromatic browns of the background.  Unlike some of the peasant satires of earlier in his career, often portraying his boorish subjects uproariously drinking and brawling, the present work depicts a group of rustics taking pleasure in an amiable card game and seems to extol the dignity and simplicity of rural life.