Family of the Stone Grinder

ArtistCopy after Gerard ter Borch (Dutch, 1617 - 1681)

Dateafter c. 1653-55

CultureDutch

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Provenancepurchased by E. W. Lake at auction in London, 1845; Lake Sale, London, 1848; purchased by Norton; Fraser Estate Sale, Christie's, London, May 31, 1904 (no. 51); purchased by Farrar; Christie's sale, London, May 31, 1906 (no. 107, £99); purchased by Bell; Christie's sale, London, March 23, 1907 (no. 140); purchased by Durlacher, as agent for the Metropolitan Museum, New York; American Art Association Sale, Feb. 7, 1929 (no. 92 as After Ter Borch); purchased by John Ringling; bequest to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1936

Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936

Object numberSN271

The present painting is one of the few pictures of the hovels in which many of the poorest artisans and semiskilled laborers lived in Dutch towns. Yet, for all the dereliction, it is also unmistakably an image of domestic virtue, for the men grinding knives are symbols of unremitting hard work.

On View

On view

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