In the centre of the drawing a young man is depicted in side view with a stick talking to a woman and a man (in graphite only). In the foreground on the right is a humorous depiction of a man relieving himself. In the background on the left, a man with a basket on his back is talking to a woman and in the background on the right another man is talking to a boy.
As indicated by an inscription on the back of the mount, this drawing was attributed to Willem van de Velde, the Elder, in the early eighteenth century: Wm. Vanderveld Sen. No. 66. It is one of eleven drawings, mostly showing fishing people, from the Milford Collection, which was formed about 1730. The study was presumably made about 1655 when van de Velde was particularly busy with grisailles, in which he introduced groups of fishing people in the foreground. The unsigned drawing may show the influence of Simon de Vlieger’s work, whom van de Velde was on friendly terms with at the time.
The drawing has a watermark: the upper part of a Fleur-de-lis on a crowned shield, Robinson 21b
Lugt 2687