Interior with figures by a window

SIR DAVID WILKIE, R.A. (CULTS, FIFE 1785-1841 GIBRALTAR) Interior with figures by a window oil on panel 6 3⁄8 x 5 3⁄4 in. (16.2 x 14.6 cm.) This painting recalls the work of Adriaen van Ostade, a painter in whom Wilkie had long been interested. The specific inspiration for the scene may have been Ostade's Interior of a cottage (Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace), which he would have had an opportunity to examine when it was sold at Christie's on 12 June 1811, before being acquired by the Prince Regent for Carlton House.