Full title | A Woman playing Cards with Two Peasants |
---|---|
Artist | Hendrick Sorgh |
Artist dates | 1610 or 1611 - 1670 |
Series | Two Genre Scenes |
Date made | 1644 |
Medium and support | Oil on oak |
Dimensions | 26.3 x 36.1 cm |
Inscription summary | Signed; Dated |
Acquisition credit | Bequeathed by John Henderson, 1879 |
Inventory number | NG1055 |
Location | Gallery A: Paintings after 1600 |
Collection | Main Collection |
This painting can be read in two ways. One interpretation suggests that the woman has tempted the man into a game of cards – a metaphor for vice – and the moment shown is when she trumps his trick and reaches out for her winnings. He is the dupe, and the smile on the face of the man in the centre would therefore be one of mockery.
It may be, however, that the deceit is working the other way. Perhaps the amorous opponent has allowed her to win in the hope of gaining her favour. The smile on the face of the observer would therefore be a knowing smirk.
The painting has a pair, Two Lovers at Table, depicting a similar setting in which the woman is clearly demonstrating her power over a lustful and gullible man.
This small parlour painting is one of a pair; the other is Two Lovers at Table. The theme of that painting is clear: it would have been considered an amusing play on the theme of women making fools of lustful men. But there are potentially two contrasting ways of reading the scene depicted here. Either it plays on the same theme as its pair, or it provides a counter view and the woman here is being portrayed as victim rather than temptress.
How can this painting be interpreted in such radically different ways? There are some elements which are clear. A game of cards was long associated with a metaphor for the pursuit of vice. In card games between men and women, the ace of hearts – with which she appears to have won the trick here – often appears because it is the most powerful card in the suit of hearts and indicates an amorous encounter. This theme is underlined by the onlooker’s pipe – a common phallic symbol – and the glowing tobacco, which was considered an aphrodisiac.
But one interpretation suggests that it is the woman who has tempted the man into a game of cards, and the moment depicted here is when she trumps his trick and reaches out for his money. The duck and the basket of eggs – which form a still-life composition neatly mirroring the one in the companion painting – suggests that he was on the way to, or just possibly from, market. He could be seen as the dupe losing his hard-earned cash, and the smile on the face of the man in the centre would therefore be one of mockery at the man’s gullibility.
It may be, however, that the deceit is working the other way. Perhaps the amorous opponent has allowed her to win in the hope of gaining her favour, or he is subtly rewarding her in advance for the favours he hopes she will confer on him. The smile on the face of the observer is therefore a knowing smirk. The woman laying claim to her winnings could therefore also be seen as an ironic touch: if she accedes to his desire then she will also be losing her virtue. Such an interpretation is reinforced by the dead duck and the eggs, which may have been interpreted as an allusion to sex. Certainly, as he ‘loses’ the game of cards, he is lifting the lid of the jug in his left hand, and open-necked jugs or flasks like this were associated with female genitalia; another features in the companion painting.
If we accept the latter interpretation then one of these two paintings illustrates the deceit of men, the other the deceit of women. If we see the woman as the trickster in both, then they become a warning to men against the manipulations of women. Of course, it may be that part of the fun of this painting is that the artist deliberately left the meanings unresolved, so that it could be interpreted in either way.
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A Woman playing Cards with Two Peasants
Two Genre Scenes
These two small parlour paintings might represent two complementary variations on the same theme or two contrasting ones. In Two Lovers at Table, a man stares lustfully at a young woman. She gives us a knowing smile, and a brothel-keeper waits in the background. This is a man succumbing to erotic temptation and being exploited by women. But there is less certainty about A Woman Playing Cards with Two Peasants. In it, a woman reaches for her winnings from a male opponent. It may be that she has tempted him into a game of cards but the deceit could be working the other way: perhaps he allowed her to win in the hope of gaining her favour.
The latter interpretation suggests that one painting illustrates the deceit of men, its pair the deceit of women. But if we see the woman as the trickster in both, then each must be a warning to men about manipulative women.
These two small parlour paintings were almost certainly made as a pair. They are the same size, and both were probably originally rectangular and shaped into ovals at a later date. They also have a similar setting, probably an inn, a cast of three and comic undertones. But whether they represent two complementary variations on the same theme or two contrasting ones is open to debate.
Two Lovers at Table seems relatively straightforward. A love-struck man holding a wine glass stares lustfully at a young woman, while she meets our eye with a knowing smile. The vertical thrust of the wine glass in the man’s hand, not far from his groin, and the flask with an open neck, just beneath the woman’s seat, would have been interpreted by many viewers as sexual references. If we were in any doubt about the situation, we need only peer into the gloom at the back of the room where a brothel-keeper is looking in at the door. Here is a man succumbing to erotic temptation and being exploited by women.
There is less certainty about its companion piece, A Woman Playing Cards with Two Peasants. Here we see the woman reaching for her winnings from a disconsolate male opponent; another man looks on with amusement. It either reinforces the idea that women make fools of men, as in Two Lovers at Table or presents the opposite view, depending on the way you interpret the scene. It may be that the woman has tempted the man into a game of cards, and we see her trump his trick and reach out for his money. But it may be that the deceit is working the other way: her amorous opponent has allowed her to win in the hope of gaining her favour, or he is subtly rewarding her in advance for the favours he hopes she will confer on him.
If we accept the latter interpretation then one of these paintings illustrates the deceit of men, the other the deceit of women. If we see the woman as the trickster in both, then they become a warning to men against the manipulations of women. Perhaps the artist deliberately left the meanings unresolved – all part of the fun of the pairing.


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