Aert Schouman (Dordrecht 1710-1793 The Hague)

The subject of a woman spinning thread would have been understood as a symbol of domestic virtue in the 17th Century.
Schouman's inscription on the verso of this drawing refers to Dr. Jan Tak (1729-1780) of Leiden, a well-known collector whom Schouman visited often. The Gerard ter Borch painting on which this drawing is based on was in Tak's collection and included in his posthumous sale on 5 September 1781 (lot 16). It is now in the Willem van de Voorn Foundation, on loan to the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (see Wheelock, op. cit., p. 95). Another watercolor by Schouman after Gabriel Metsu's painting A woman seated at a dressing table, was also in the collector of Dr. Tak. It is dated 1776 and has a similar inscription by the artist referencing its owner ('A. Schouman na Metsu 1776 in het Cabinet van de Heer Jan Tak. Medec[ij]ne Docter te Leiden'; Christie's, Amsterdam, 3 November 2004, lot 150).