Cornelis Dusart (1660-1704)

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)