Accession Number1949/1.110
TitleThe Spectacle Seller
Artist(s)Adriaen Jansz van OstadeArtist NationalityDutch (culture or style)Object Creation Datecirca 1647-1652Medium & Supportetching, drypoint and engraving on paperDimensions 4 in x 3 3/10 in (10.16 cm x 8.41 cm);19 3/10 in x 14 ¼ in (49.05 cm x 36.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Carl Fredric ClarkeLabel copyOstade's etching shows a door-to-door salesman offering a pair of spectacles to a woman leaning out a half-open door. The peddler seen in this print seems benevolent and the woman appears eager to examine his wares. However, specatacles themselves had alternately good and bad associations, linked on the one hand with clarity of perception and wisdom, and on the other hand with deception.
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Keywords
glasses
historical figures