Jacob Cats (Altenau 1741-1799 Amsterdam)

Like many of Cats' drawings, this sheet is inscribed, dated and numbered by the artist on the verso. These inscriptions usually appear on the lesser finished drawings, executed in black chalk and sometimes with grey wash. In her article on Cats' numbering system, Jane Shoaf Turner suggested that these numbered drawings may have been used by the artist as examples to show to potential clients so that they could select a subject to be carried out in a more finished manner (J. Shoaf Turner, 'Jacob Cats and the Identification of a ''Pseudo-Goll van Franckenstein'' numbering system', Master Drawings, XXVIII, no. 3, 1990, pp. 325-7). The present drawing with its inscription is an example of such a practice; beside the present summer version, Cats also made a winter version with watercolour which was probably commissioned by Jan Fokke (1742-1812) ('winter met Sappe voor J. Fokke'), which is now in the Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam (inv. A 10469; Oud and Oosterzee, op. cit., no. 30).