M. de Selle, Trésorier Général de la Marine;
His sale, Paris, Pierre Rémy, 19-28 February 1761, lot 18 (where sold with a pendant, published by Hofstede de Groot, see Literature, no. 449; Smith no. 42), for FF 2,450 to M. Chibault;
Louis César de la Baume Le Blanc, Duc de la Vallière (1708-1780);
His posthumous sale, Paris, Paillet, 21 February 1781, lot 54 (where sold with pendant), for FF 4,101 to Langlier;
John Purling;
His deceased sale, London, Mr. White (Portland Place), 17 February 1801, lot 94 or 95, for 185 gns. to Dupré or 210 gns. to Birch;
Charles Hanbury Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley (1778-1858), London, by 1821 until at least 1842; 
Schönborn Collection, Vienna;
With Schaeffer Galleries, New York;
F. Mont Collection, New York, 1948;
Private collection, U.S.A.;
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Private Collector'), New York, Christie's, 12 January 1996, lot 178;
With Richard Green, London;
From whom acquired by the present owner.

London, British Institution, 1821, no. 61 (lent by C.H. Tracy);
London, British Institution, 1832, no. 70 (lent by C. Hanbury Tracy).

J. Smith, A catalogue raisonné..., vol. I, London 1829, p. 215, no. 41;
J. Smith, A catalogue raisonné..., Supplement, London 1842, p. 144, no. 18;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné..., vol. II, London 1909, p. 580, no. 987;
B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman, Doornspijk 2006, vol. I, pp. 353-4, no. A463, reproduced vol. II, fig. 433.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a fine oak panel bevelled on all sides, with an eighteenth century inscription behind and a seal. The perfectly selected panel shows no trace of movement or flaking, past or present. The beautiful condition of this painting clearly stems not only from the fine original technique but also from cautious respect over centuries without undue intervention. The present varnish is quite recent. There is little wear and only a few minor retouchings at the edges, mainly down the right edge where the frame has rubbed, with a few small retouchings on the left edge and along the base. Occasional minute touches in the sky near the top edge are entirely superficial, with one minor retouching in the lower left cloud and a line of small touches on the beach under the grey pony. There are a few marginal pentimenti in the outlines of the figures against the sky, for instance around the baby's head, but the detailed brushwork is beautifully preserved throughout, from the gleam of the fish's scales on the shore to the gentle tonality and characterisation of the bending fishermen as well as the furthest bird in the distant sky. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Given the size of his oeuvre, Wouwerman painted relatively few beach scenes and those beaches that he did paint remain mostly unidentified.¹  Apart from a short trip to Hamburg in 1638-39, Wouwerman spent most of his life in his native town of Haarlem and the beaches depicted are therefore probably those on the coastline stretching to Alkmaar in the north and Scheveningen in the south. Dated by Schumacher to circa 1660 and by Dr. Wolfgang Maier-Preusker to the 1660s this work, characterised by the harmonious synthesis of landscape and genre and a colourful palette, seen here in the striking blue of the sky and the richly painted mother and child on the hay cart, is entirely typical of his work at this time.

Schumacher (see Literature) cites a copy in Lier, Museum Wuyts van Campen, which bears a false signature, is on canvas, and measures 30 by 41 cm. She also errone🌼ously lists the present work as sold London, Christie's, 23 April 1993, lot 24.

A note on the provenance: Louis César de la Baume Le Blanc, duc de la Vallière, at whose posthumous sale this painting was sold in 1781 (see Provenance), was one of the greatest bibliophiles of the 18th century. At his resplendant Château de Montrouge, that was completed circa 1750, he received all the great men of letters of the day including Diderot, Voltaire, d'Alembert and Moncrif. He played a prominent role in the court of Louis XV and indeed rented the Château de Champs-sur-Marne, that he inherited from his father, to Madame de Pompadour before selling it in 1763. Despite his bookish nature however, his reputation was one of a corrupt adulterer, as attested to by Bachaumont in Mémoires secrets (19 November 1780):

'M. le duc de La Vallière vient de mourir. C'était un des seigneurs les plus corrompus de la vieille cour, ami du feu roi et voué à toutes ses maîtresses. Il mérite cependant qu'on conserve son nom à la postérité comme auteur distingué, comme protecteur des lettres...Il avait des tableaux et, moderne Lucullus, il possédait des jardins délicieux.'

1  In fact, the only firmly identifiable beach scene is his Seashore at Scheveningen in Norwich, Norwich Castle Museum; see B. Schumacher, under Literature, vol. I, cat. no. A457, p. 351, reproduced vol. II, colour plate 71 & pla𓆏te 427.