A man a woman and a girl, mounted with detached secondary support, bearing the Milford Collection plate

This sketch shows a group of two adults and two children, one of them a baby. The man is playing the fiddle, apparently for the amusement of the girl, who is holding a basket. The rendering of the figures’ clothes suggest a degree of ruggedness, which in turn may indicate their status as peasants.

The unsigned drawing originates from the Milford collection, but its style is different to that of other figure drawings from the same source now at the NMM. The common provenance has lead to this drawing’s highly unlikely attribution to either Willem van de Velde.

Object Details

ID: PAE5197
Collection: Fine art
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Velde, Willem van de, the Elder
Date made: 1655?
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Primary support: 149 mm x 122 mm; Mount: 480 mm x 317 mm