¹ The Dorotheum sale catalogue indicates that the painting was inscribed with a monogram that read “C.T.”; the monogram is again mentioned in the 1978 Sotheby’s auction catalogue. However, the monogram is not visible in the reproduction of the painting in either catalogue, and no traces of it have been found on the painting’s surface to date. Yet, it was due to these references to a monogram that the painting has been attributed to Constant Troyon, a painter known mainly for his landscapes, although he did paint studies of farmhands as well. It is possible that the supposed “monogram” was not inscribed by the artist, but rather was a collector’s mark or label on the back of the painting that has since been removed, and that the Dorotheum catalogue referred to it as a “monogram,” erroneously attributing the painting to Troyon. Troyon did collect art himself (L.642), and so perhaps the “C.T.” does in fact refer to Troyon, but as a collector rather than an artist. Sales of Troyon’s collection in 1872 and 1886, however, do not contain the Cleveland painting. There are several other “C.T.” collector’s marks in Lugt, but they belong to unidentified collectors, and not knowing what the supposed monogram on this painting looked like makes it impossible to connect it to one of those in Lugt.

² The May 12, 1978 Sotheby’s catalogue notes that the paintings in the sale come from the collections of various owners. It is possible that the owner of the Cleveland painting, who is not identified in the catalogue, is the Viennese collector who in 1968 consigned it to the Dorothuem, where it failed to sale and presumably was returned to the consignor.