This elegant seventeenth-century Dutch interior depicts a fashionably dressed young woman seated with a guitar, accompanied by another woman holding a sheet of music. A small King Charles spaniel rests upon a table covered with a richly patterned textile, while roses, architectural elements, sweeping drapery, and an expansive landscape beyond complete the sophisticated setting. Particular attention is given to the luminous silver satin of the seated woman’s gown, the richly colored textiles, pearls and other fashionable details characteristic of the refined portraiture and genre painting associated with Caspar Netscher and his circle.

The painting has a distinguished provenance and a particularly interesting attribution history. It formerly belonged to Mrs. Amelia J. Sargent, who bequeathed it to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where it was accessioned as no. 94.170. The museum published the painting in A. R. Murphy’s European Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue (1985), p. 303, under the title Duet and attributed to Aleijda Wolfsen. Significantly, the museum described the inscription at lower left, “G. Netscher / 1680,” as a false signature, indicating that its Wolfsen attribution was made despite, rather than because of, the apparent Netscher signature. A copy of the book will be included with the painting.

Following its deaccession from the Museum of Fine Arts, the painting was offered at Christie’s, New York, on January 14, 1993, lot 24, where it was again catalogued as Attributed to Aleijda Wolfsen (1648–1690), with the Netscher signature and date specifically noted. The work is also documented in the photographic records of the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, where its historical relationship to both Netscher and the Wolfsen attribution is recorded.

Aleijda Wolfsen was one of the relatively few documented women painters active during the Dutch Golden Age. Born in Zwolle in 1648 into a prominent family, she maintained close personal connections with Caspar Netscher and is believed to have studied with him around 1670. Wolfsen specialized principally in portraits of fashionable members of the Dutch elite, particularly women, often incorporating luxurious fabrics, gardens, architectural settings, draperies, flowers, and occasionally animals. Her surviving oeuvre is comparatively small and remains an area of continuing scholarship, complicated in part by the close stylistic relationship between her paintings and those produced by Netscher and artists within his immediate circle.

The painting is in very good condition with some old signs of frame rubbing on the edges. It measures 25 78” x 20” (65.8 × 50.8cm) and with frame approximately 32 1/2” x 26 3/4” (82.6 × 67.9cm).

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