Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade

Jäger collection;
Baroness Aug. Stummer von Tavornok, Vienna, 1895 catalogue, no. 138 (according to Hofstede, see Literature);
Bruno Jellinek, Vienna, whose collection was secured by the Nazi authorities, 17 June 1938, and confiscated, 8 January 1941, by the Vugesta (the Gestapo looting agency) and offered for sale: Vienna, Dorotheum, 2 December 1941, lot 106;
Acquired at the above sale by the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no. 9038;
Restituted to the heirs of Bruno Jellinek, January 2008.

C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. III, London 1910, p. 249, no. 359 (as 16½ by 14 in.: 'In the centre of a room there sit round a cask an old peasant on the left, a young girl on the right, and between them a young peasant lighting his pipe at a charcoal pan. The girl holds a beer-glass in her right hand and a stoneware jug in her left. The older peasant holds his soft dark hat with both hands in fron tof him. To the left lies a light-brown dog.');
K. Demus, Katalog der Gemäldegalerie, Holländische Meister des 15., 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, Vienna 1972, p. 71;
Die Gemäldegalerie des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien, Vienna 1991, p. 91, reproduced plate 518 (where said to be signed upper right on the rafter AVO).

The panel is flat and stable and uncradled. There are small losses along the left and top margins due to movement in the frame. The painting is now dirty and the varnish discoloured and uneven. Inspection under ultra violet light reveals quite extensive careful retouching, most heavily in the upper and lower margins and to the area surrounding the central figure with a pipe. The staircase and background shadows have also been retouched. The restoration has now visibly discoloured. Offered with a later stained wood frame in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This scene of domestic tranquillity is at odds with Ostade's earlier violent tavern brawl images or scenes of solitary boors drinking. The painting dates to the 1650s, a time when Ostade was very much still interested in the idiosyncratic portrayal of peasant life. Though his focus has shifted from the satirising human frailty that defined his works of the 1640s, to one eulogising the simplicity of peasant life.

We are grateful to Dr. Bernhard Schnackenburg for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs.

PROVENANCE
From 1941, after its confiscation by the Vugesta, this painting was in the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. In 2008 is was finally restituted to the heirs of Bruno Jellinek whose collection had been secured by the Nazis as early as 1938. In the 1972 Kunsthistorisches catalogue the painting is said to have been signed with initials (AVO) on a beam in the upper right corner.