Attributed to Jacob Ochtervelt

Anonymous sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 3 April 1962, no. L. V (as F. van Mieris);

With Katz Gallery, Dieren, by 22 November 1962, no. 36 (as F. van Mieris);

Anonymous sale, The Hague, Van Marle & Bignell, 21 May 1963, lot 70 (as F. van Mieris);

Anonymous sale, The Hague, Van Marle & Bignell, 15 December 1965, lot 225 (as F. van Mieris).

O. Naumann, Frans van Mieris the Elder (1635–1681), Doornspijk 1981, vol. 2, p. 166, no. C 110 (under ‘Rejected Attributions’, as loosely based on Van Mieris; having ‘a touch of Ochtervelt's technique’).

The attribution to Jacob Ochtervelt has been proposed by Dr Eddy Schavemaker on the basis of digital images. While Dr Susan Donahue Kuretsky does not share this opinion, Otto Naumann has also endorsed the attribution to Ochtervelt and believes the Van Mieris signature was copied at a later date. We are grateful to all those consulted for their views.