Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 21 June 1957, lot 95 for £150 to Vanderkar;
Private Collection, Europe;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 25 February 1994, lot 59, for £30,000;
With Richard Green, London, 1994;
Private Collection, USA.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The painting has been recently restored. The evenly chamfered oak panel is of good quality and the paint is stable. There is some pronounced horizontal wood grain which has been reduced. There is also discoloured restoration to the Hurdy-gurdy player's hair and to abraded thinnesses, particularly to the shadows, and the areas where a filigree of pale shrinkage cracking is dominant. Overall the condition is good and the varnish is not discoloured."
"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."

Jan Tilius was a 𒐪pupil of Pieter van Slingelandt (1640-1691) and Caspar Netscher (1635/6-1684). In 16ꦛ83 he is known to have joined The Hague's artists' society, Confreri Pictura.

The pinched facial expression of the central figure, with his toothy smile, is stylistically close to A Young Boy Holding a Hen, sold London, Sotheby's, 13 December 2001, lot 126. The central figure can also be compared to A Young Man with Bagpipes who also displays his distinctive s𝓀mile which was sold New York, Sotheby's, 12 January 1995, lot 97.