Street Vendor Selling Spectacles at the Door

c. 1647

Adriaen van Ostade

Associated Names
Adriaen van Ostade

Artist, Dutch, 1610 - 1685

This is an artwork of a rustic outdoor scene with an exchange taking place. The drawing shows a doorway with one individual inside leaning on the door frame and another individual outside wearing a broad-brimmed hat and cloak, holding a tray. In front of the doorway, there is a child-like figure with their back turned, holding a basket on the ground. The setting includes a wooden structure with woven fencing and surrounding trees. The pen work displays detailed cross-hatching for depth and texture. The scene suggests a marketplace or social interaction in a village or rural setting, reminiscent of the Dutch Golden Age style focusing on domestic scenes.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, with touches of drypoint, on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed within plate mark): 10.2 × 8.6 cm (4 × 3 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1944.2.47

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 6, State i/viii


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Thomas Philipe [c. 1740-1816], London and Edinburgh (Lugt 2451a); Walter Francis Duke of Buccleuch [1806-1884], London and Dalkeith (Lugt 402); (William Schab, New York); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1932d), 1943; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. 72 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1964; vol. XV, no. 29, i/vi.

1990

  • Godefroy, Louis. The Complete Etchings of Adriaen van Ostade. San Francisco, 1990: no. 29, i/vi.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Adriaen van Ostade, Paolo Giordani and Jaco Rutgers, authors). Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel: Sound & Vision Publishers, 2023: no. 6, i/viii.

Inscriptions

in plate, within image at bottom right: Av. ostade; verso, bottom center, in graphite by a later hand: I. Z [?]

Wikidata ID

Q65018516

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