Haarlem School, circa 1630

The panel is flat and stable and is made up of two flat, vertical boards, beveled on all four sides. There is an old split along the join, now repaied and stable, with two batons reinforcing it on the reverse. The paint surface is in good condition overall, there are certain areas where the ground has become visible though this is due to the thin nature of the painting style. Inspection under UV reveals minor scattered retouching in the background and clothing and very fine retouching attending the repaired panel join. There is a small area of overpaint in the hat at the base of the feather, a minor retouched loss of 1/4 in. to the forehead and a fine crack through the sitter's left cheek. Overall the painting is in good condition and is ready to hang in its present state. Offered with a carved gilt wood frame.
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The identity of the painter of this Man drinking from an earthenware flagon would appear to be close with that of a Flute Player by an anonymous Haarlem based artist working in the ambient of Hendrick Ter Brugghen (Staatliches Museum, Schwerin; see  B. Nicholson, Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1990, Vol. 3, no. 1194). Aside from the obvious compositional similarities between this work and the Schwerin painting, both works share a similarly treated ear, flattened slope of the nose, and delineated wrinkles next to the eye. Furthermore, it seems possible that the sitters are identical, or at least derived from the same source. In its use of thickly applied and spirited brushwork, this panel is typical of the Haarlem style and demonstrates the influence of Frans Hals, Judith Leyster, and Jan Miense Molenaer. In composition, however, and its attempt at dynamic lighting effects, it is clearly looking to Utrecht, and specifically Dirck van Baburen.