[Original Artwork] Drawing of 17th Century Scene of Mourners in a Dining Room. "Disconsolate widower meets with sympathy from deceased wife's sister

Near Fine. A rich genre scene that rewards closer examination to reveal the hypocrisy or two-facedness of the widower, the chief mourner. He holds a handkerchief to his right eye as his solicitous sister-in-law seeks to comfort him. The hankie, though, is positioned perfectly to conceal the lechery of his left eye gazing at the comely young maid setting the table, his lips betraying an impish desire that is stronger than his sorrow. We see also woman seated straight-backed and exuding stiff propriety and two men by a door on the other side of the room there to pay their respects. In the meantime there are fillips of humor coming from a cat and dog, immersed in their own world. The dog is about to lurch at some food that has fallen to the floor while the cat, is focused on the same thing, or is the cat watching the dog with feline contempt and condescension? The setting for all this drama is a dining room in Jacobean style which dominated the mid-17th century. In the background is a large portrait probably meant to represent Elizabeth I. Captioned on the back is "Temp Charles. Disconsolate widower meets with sympathy from deceased wife's sister". The first part of this caption is placing the scene during the reign of Charles I, which spanned 1625 to 1649. The second part of the caption we adopt as the title of the drawing, and obviously, it explains the central drama. The drawing, on brown paper and visible under glass, is 27 by 36.5 cm. With the metallic frame and matting, the dimensions are 44 by 52.5 cm. Browne used thick pencil or crayon, with touches of a color crayon, but for the most part, the drawing reads as brown, black and white, with a somber quality resulting from the paper. We think it is quite possible that this drawing was used as the basis for a book illustration for one of the very many books Browne illustrated; we have as yet not determined what novel that might be, if this is the case. We regard the modern frame is no more than functional, and it has no condition issues. The matting is more attractive, even with its very light soiling, which luckily is quite inconspicuous. (Inventory #: 20074)