Follower of Gerrit Dou

Possibly Everard George Tindinghorste, Amsterdam;
Possibly his sale, Amsterdam, Yver, 26 March 1777, lot 20, to Cliquet;
Possibly Crawford;
Possibly his sale, London, Christie's, 26 April 1806, sold for 190 guineas;
Lord Ormathwaite;
Asher Wertheimer; 
C.T. Conway;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 5 June 1985, lot 127 (all the above as Gerrit Dou);
There purchased by the late owner.

Oxford, Ashmolean Museum (according to Christie's 1985 sale catalogue, see Provenance).

Possibly J. Smith, "Gerard Dou", in Catalogue Raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, London 1829, vol. I, p. 27, cat. no. 80;
Possibly C. Hofstede de Groot,"Gerard Dou", in Catalogue Raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the 17th century, London 1908, vol. I, p. 350, cat. no. 23c or 23d (all the above as Gerrit Dou).

Panel is uncradled and is slightly bowed from right to left. Under an uneven old varnish. The paint surface has been generally quite well preserved and there is very nice detail in the figure and still life elements. There is a slight degree of thinness in the background arch and distant architecture. There is an area of crudely done retouching in the shadowed area of the distant archway which is visible to the naked eye. Under UV light: retouching as mentioned above; there are other small ones along the far right edge; only a very few others scattered, but very little on figure and still life objects. Offered in a brown wood frame.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This painting follows a composition by Gerrit Dou, of which a number of autograph versions are known, including one in the Wallace Collection, London (inv. no. P177).  In the Christie's 1985 catalogue (see Provenance) the present panel was linked to two works published by Hofstede de Groot as by Dou and the catalogue entry conflated the provenance of both (see Literature).  At this stage it has not been possible to determine with certainty whether the present version is indeed among those listed and, in light of this, a degree of caution was required in the approach to the provenance.