Attributed to Jacob Ochtervelt Rotterdam 1634 - 1682 Amsterdam

A.G. de Visser, by whom sold, Amsterdam, 1881 (according to note on the mount; presumably in one of the sales held on 23-24 February, 16-18 May or 21-24 November);
William Pitcairn Knowles, Rotterdam/ Wiesbaden (L.2643)

Drawings by Ochtervelt are essentially unknown:  the files on the artist at the RKD in The Hague contain only two drawings, and neither of those has a very strong claim on authenticity.  The present drawing must, however, relate to a painting by the artist, and the freedom of handling would seem to suggest it is more likely to be a compositional study by Ochtervelt himself than a copy by another hand after one of his paintings.  Although the specific arrangement of figures seen here does not seem to correspond precisely with any known painting, the general composition, subject, figure and facial types are all very typical of Ochtervelt.