REMBRANDT VAN RIJN
The Rat Catcher.

Etching and drypoint, 1632. 141x127 mm; 5¾x5¼ inches, narrow to thread margins. Biörklund's third state (of 3); Usticke's second state (of 2); White and Boon's third state (of 3); New Hollstein's third state (of 3), with the parallel horizontal shading behind the rat catcher's hat and neck. Letter L I or I I counter mark to an unknown watermark. A very good, dark impression of this scarce etching, with crisp, partially inky plate edges and strong contrasts.
<br<Provenance: Unidentified collector, ink stamp verso (not in Lugt).

As Luitjen notes, "Exactly how this print is to be interpreted is unclear. Was Rembrandt echoing long-standing prejudices about the riff-raff that knocked on people's doors peddling their dubious wares, or is this a picture of an innocent transaction to the parties' mutual advantage? It is hard to make out whether the man standing in the doorway is rejecting the proffered goods or turning away after his purchase because he cannot bear the sight of the two figures and the smell of their merchandise and reeking advertisements. These puzzling elements have done nothing to impede the print's success, it should be said. The Rat Catcher was copied on a large scale even in the seventeenth century, and numerous versions of it were in circulation," (Rembrandt the Printmaker, London, 2000, page 125). Bartsch 121; Biörklund 32-C; Hollstein (White and Boon) 121; New Hollstein 111.