The copperplate was initially in the possession of Pieter Haaringh and then his son Jacob Haaringh. Later it became part of the set of plates subsequently owned and used for printing Recueils by Pierre-François Basan (1723-1797), Henri-Louis Basan (his nr 1437), Auguste Jean (ca 1809), Veuve Jean, Auguste and Michel Bernard (1846) and Robert Lee Humber (1937). It was sold at the Artemis sale in London (1993) and is now in a private collection in the USA.

For a long time it was assumed that the sitter was Thomas Jacobszn Haaringh, the bailiff that took care of the bankruptcy of Rembrandt, of which Rembrandt made another etched portrait (B274). A text on an impression in the Rijksmuseum made it clear that it is in fact his son, Pieter Haaringh. He was a lawyer in Utrecht.

There is an anonymous copy in the same direction of the 5^th state, inscribed Rembrandt f 1655, the ‘6’ reversed  (116 x 103 mm, WB).

The etching is considered as special by Seidlitz and Blanc.

NH lists six states, only the first two by Rembrandt. Most other authors list five states. From the 3^rd state of WB/NU there are later impressions by Watelet, P.Basan, Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
The 1^st state (NH, WB, R728) is so dark that only the face can be distinguished. The signature and date are barely visible.
In the 2^nd state (NH, WB, R729) a long curtain rod is added across the window*. The expression of the face is altered by new shading*.
In the 3^rd state (NH, WB, R730) a landscape painting with an arched top is added on the wall to the left*. Not by Rembrandt.
In the 4^th state (NH,WB, H, R731, NU, P. and H.Basan, Jean) the plate is cut into two plates, the larger one showing  only the head and the shoulders, the smaller one only showing the hands and hat of Haaringh (listed as state 4a by NH). The painting on the wall is removed.
In the 5^th state (NH, WB (final), R732-733/NU Jean, Bernard, Beaumont) the plate is heavily retouched. There is regular vertical and horizontal crosshatching on the left wall (darker)°. The chair is reworked°.
In the 6^th state (NH only) the plate is again reworked. New lines are added to the shadows on the face and collarº

Many impressions of the 1^st and 2^nd state are on Japanese paper.
Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions in the Recueil de Basan, to be fine.

In the 1^st state: Paschal lamb (c. 1655); Strasbourg bend (c. 1655); Strasbourg lily.
In the 2^nd state: Strasbourg lily.
In the 2^nd and 3^rd state: Miscellaneous (1742 or later).

H 288, BB 55-E, G 255, M 169, Mz 75, RA 728-733, Cl 272, W 277, Bl 179, Du 262, CD 244, S 117.

NH: 2^nd state of VI/ WB: 2^nd state of V.
A very good, early impression. The rod before the window is visible, the painting in the background not, confirming a 2^nd state.
Sheet 199 x 151/150 mm, thread margins of approx. 1 mm at both sides, 1,5 mm at top and bottom (+6%).
No watermark, horizontal chain lines.

In the collection of Heneage Finch, 5^th Earl of Aylesford, (London and Warwickshire, 1768 – 1859, Lugt 58), his collector’s mark in black ink verso;
In the collection of the German art dealer Wilhelm Eduard Drugulin, (Leipzig 1825-1879, Lugt 2612), his collector’s mark (W.D.) in green ink verso.
Probably sold at his sale with Hartung in Leipzig in May 1855;

Rembrandt in Black & White: Bozar Expo (Brussels), Chateau de Penthes (Geneva), February – October 2016;
Rembrandt, fotograaf avant-la-lettre, Museum De Reede (Antwerp), January – May 2023;
Rembrandt, 17^th century photographer, Daegu Art Museum (Korea), November 2023 – March 2024;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;