Oil Painting, 'Peasant counting money', unknown artist after engraving by Abraham Blooteling after design by Petrus Staverenus, 19th century?

A peasant in black hat and green-brown coat, metal buttons undone to reveal a white shirt beneath, counts silver coins into his right hand

Bequeathed by Mrs Duroure

Bequeathed by Mrs Duroure, 1864
The V&Acentral inventory indicates that nos. 305/312-1864 were bequeathed by Mrs Duroure and the annual report of the Science and Art Department describes briefly the individual works.
A hand written note (Kauffmann?) in the Paintings object files reads:

'the Duroure pictures are described in the letter of acceptance g 6.4.1864 as follows:
2 small Dutch pictures- drinking subjects
1 landscape, Roman
1 Rubens, Samson and lion
1 Simon Vouel [sic]
1 Sir Walter Raleigh
2 Landscapes, Waterloo'

Historical significance: This work appears to have been painted after a mezzotint engraving ca. 1670-1690 by the Dutch printmaker Abraham Blooteling who worked in Amsterdam and London after a design by Petrus Staverenus (fl. 1634-54). Staverenus designed a series of works representing the five senses as personified by peasants. This work in the series represents 'Hearing' due to the sound the man is making chinking the coins into his hand. The other known engravings in this series by Blooteling depict 'Sight,' 'Smell,' and 'Touch.' 'Taste' is missing from the series. The series appears to have been particularly popular as it was also engraved in the 17th century by Pieter Schenck (1660-1713) and Jan Verkolje (1650-1693). The same work was engraved again in 1770-80 by the London publisher/printer Carington Bowles where it was expanded into a Satire, in which a young man with a pile of gold coins in his hands stands at a counter behind which a young woman stirs a bowl of punch, and was given the title Ha Ha Ha - I've got the Chink. There may have also been a series of prints made in reverse as suggested by a painting attributed to Penry Williams ca. 1815/16 (no. 93, Cyfartha Castel Museum and Art Gallery, Merthyr, Wales) with the same title as the Bowles reproduction but reduced to the original composition and painted in reverse .

This work is typical of Genre Painting, a style which represented the lower or peasant classes of society that became increasingly popular throughout the 17th century in the Netherlands. These pictures usually depict scenes of everyday life, set in domestic interiors or in the open countryside. Some bear metaphorical meaning or moralising messages, but others may just be intended as representations of daily events. In both cases they are associated with health, pleasure and liberty. The leading figures of the Haarlem school in this field were Adriaen Brouwer (1606-1638) and Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685).

Kauffmann (1973) suggests that this is a 19th century imitation.

A peasant in black hat and green-brown coat, metal buttons undone to reveal a white shirt beneath, counts silver coins into his right hand. This work appears to have been painted after a mezzotint engraving ca. 1670-1690 by Abraham Blooteling after a design by Petrus Staverenus (fl. 1634-54). Staverenus designed a series of works representing the five senses as personified by peasants. This work in the series represents 'Hearing' due to the sound the man is making chinking the coins into his hand. The other known engravings in this series by Blooteling depict 'Sight,' 'Smell,' and 'Touch.' 'Taste' is missing from the series. The series appears to have been particularly popular as it was also engraved in the 17th century by Pieter Schenck (1660-1713) and Jan Verkolje (1650-1693). The same work was engraved again in 1770-80 by the London publisher/printer Carington Bowles where it was expanded into a Satire, in which a young man with a pile of gold coins in his hands stands at a counter behind which a young woman stirs a bowl of punch, and was given the title Ha Ha Ha - I've got the Chink. There may have also been a series of prints made in reverse as suggested by a painting attributed to Penry Williams ca. 1815/16 (no. 93, Cyfartha Castel Museum and Art Gallery, Merthyr, Wales) with the same title as the Bowles reproduction but reduced to the original composition and painted in reverse .

309-1864