Smith, John: A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters: in which is included a short biographical notice of the artists, with a copious description of their principal pictures : a statement of the prices at which such pictures have been sold at public sales on the continent and in England; a reference the the galleries and private collections in which a large portion are at present; and the names of the artists by whom they have been engraved; to which is added, a brief notice of the scholars & imitators of the great masters of the above schools (Part 1) (London: Smith and Son, 1829)

30

GERARD DOW.

room ; a pot of pinks, a barber’s bason, a scull, and a bottle,
are on the sill in front. Engraved by I. Taylor. In the Forster
Gallery.
Collection of Hart Davis, Esq., 1814. .... 77gs.
16| in. by in.—P.
A picture, entitled L’ Arracheur de Dents, is mentioned by
Descamps, in La Vies des Peintres, and was at that time in the Col-
lection of M. Bouxiere, 1754.
90. The Interior of a large and lofty room, with a window
on the right, near which a pretty woman, in a morning dress, is
sitting at work ; and before her is a girl on her knees, leaning
on a cradle and looking attentively at a child lying in it. A
little removed from this group is a table, with various objects
on it, amongst others, a silver coffee-pot, lying on its side, and a
small brass market-pail; an antique arm-chair stands in the corner
and front, and between that and the lady is a work-basket lying on
the ground. The opposite side is occupied by a great variety of
objects: viz.—a table with vegetables, poultry, and a candle-
stick on it; a hare hanging above; and on the ground are a
hen-coop, a pot, a pail, with a plate containing a fish, a
lantern, an earthen pot, a bunch of carrots, and a broom.
On the side where the figures are, and a little beyond them, is a
pillar carved with cupids, in bas-relief; a sword, a cloak, and
a bird-cage, are hanging against it; a winding staircase is in the
back of the room, and from a kind of gallery, over which some
drapery is thrown, is suspended a brass chandelier. A woman at
the fire, and a little farther, an old man, are in the kitchen,
which is seen through a sort of archway, at the end of the
apartment: this part of the picture is illumined by a fire
and two windows. The light and shade are finely distributed
in this piece, and produce the most pleasing and natural effect,
and the finishing throughout is most elaborate. It is dated 1658,
when the artist was forty-five years old, and is, in the writer’s
opinion, the second best picture amongst the artist’s works.