The Milk Seller
Haarlem, Holland, 1679
Oil on wood
38.8 x 29.5 cm
This, Dusart’s earliest dated work, was produced in the year he completed his studies with Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685). It is based on a drawing by his teacher which typically shows a peasant scene.
A travelling milk seller, with a yoke across her back, fills a bowl from her tub. She is watched by three generations of a family, including a girl with her doll and a boy with a hoop. Dusart pays equal attention to the cottage’s picturesque quality, with its variously textured walls and wooden accretions.
Purchased 1949 (No.49.8)