The plate was not part of any of the major collections and is almost certainly not anymore in existence.

This etching is the first ´formal´ portrait Rembrandt made, at the age of 24, in the year he moved from Leiden to Amsterdam. This may explain why it is also the first sign that Rembrandt was, at least mentally, becoming a more cosmopolitan person, showing himself as a seigneur. He clearly was not immediately satisfied with the results, since he made many changes, leading to no less than fifteen different states (NH), most of which are printed only once. White and Buvelot noticed that the original title is not correct since the cap is not soft at all and that the cloak is not embroidered but made of a patterned or brocade fabric. Although quite a number of impressions have survived, the print has not been seen outside museum collections.

There are two painted self-portraits of 1632 in which the same hat is visible, one in a private collection (Corpus Add 1) and one in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow (Corpus A 58). Another etched study (B 363) was made about the same time.
Rembrandt may have been inspired by an engraving made in 1620 by Paulus Pontius, after a self-portrait by Peter Paul Rubens. It shows a similar posture, including the hat and the cloak, and has a similar curved frame surrounding the portrait.
Stephanie Dickey’s suggestion that Rembrandt was inspired by the portraits in the Iconography of Anthony van Dyck, whom Rembrandt may have met when he visited The Hague in the winter of 1632, seem less likely. It was a year after he made this print and the ‘courtly’ style was not suitable for Rembrandt’s new clientele in Amsterdam.

There are four copies in the same direction. A is by Johannes van Vliet, signed RHL 1634 (141 x 125 mm, WB 1), B is anonymous, with the head only (after state III, 145 x 128 mm) and two copies by Ignace Joseph De Claussin. F is inscribed Rembrandt 1631 (two states, 145 x 106 mm, WB 2) and G is with the head only, signed De Claussin f 1809 (183 x 152 mm).
There are three copies in reverse, of which two are also by De Claussin. Copy D is signed and dated 1800 and is combined with the body of Jan Asselijn (two states, 85 x 166 mm, WB 5).
Copy E is included in the Recueil de H.L.Basan, which is in the collection ‘Rembrandt in B&W’, number 54, page 30, 146 x 132 mm, WB 3).
Copy C is by John Chapman, used by Daulby as frontispiece of his catalogue of 1796 (103 x 86 mm, WB 4).

The etching is considered as special by Rovinsky and Wilson.
The plate was made by a pupil according to Coppier.

NH list no less than fifteen states, White-Boon eleven, Hind, Münz and Biörklund nine, Wilson seven and Nowell-Usticke four trial proofs (with the head only) and six states of the completed plate (with the mantle).
The large number of states leads to much confusion in the description by the various authors. All states are contemporary.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, R20/NU trial proof A) only the head is etched.
In the 2nd state (NH, WB, R21/NU trial proof B) shading is added to the left underside of the brim.
In the 3rd state (NH, WB, R22-24/NU trial proof C) the hat is shaded with cross-hatching, but the outline of the brim of the hat remains broken. Completed with black chalk.
In the 4th state (NH only) the brim of the hat is retouched.
In the 5th state (NH/WB 4th state/R23/NU trial proof D) the right eyelid and mouth are strengthened with drypoint. The broken outline of the brim of the hat filled in.
In the 6th state (NH only) some lines are added to the nose.
In the 7th state (NH/WB 5th state, R26-27/NU 1st state) the body is added at half length. It is now signed and dated.
In the 8th state (NH/WB 6th state) the cloak is darkened. A white spot is added to the sleeve trying, unsuccessfully, to add depth. Traces of a balustrade are introduced.
In the 9th state (NH/WB 7th state, R28/NU 2nd state) embroidery is added on the mantle on the left upper arm.
In the 10th and 11th state (NH only) some lines are added, reducing the highlight.
In the 12^th state (NH/WB 8^th state WB/NU 3^rd state) shadow is added in the background.
In the 13^th state (NH/WB 9^th state, R29-30/NU 4^th state) the small triangular space below the white cuff is darkened by shading.
In the 14^th state (NH/WB 10^th state, R31/NU 5^th state) a second signature is added and the collar is enriched with lace.
In the 15^th state (NH/WB 11^th state, R32/NU 6^th state) the background is burnished removing the signatures.

Of the first five states only one impression each is known, four in the British Museum, the 4th state in the Rijksmuseum. The impression of the 2nd state is completed in black chalk and is signed Rembrandt at the bottom. It states AET 27, later changed in 24, indicating that Rembrandt was 24 years at the time of the etching. It was in the collection of Thomas Wilson. The 3rd state impression is also completed in black chalk to bust length. Given the fact that both prints are signed with his full name (which he did not do before 1633) Rembrandt probably completed the prints around 1633-34, using earlier impressions of the face only. It would explain the correction in age from 27 (when he made the completion) to 24 (when he drew his face).
An impression of the 6th state (NH, 4th state WB) in the Bibliothèque Nationale has a similar inscription as the 2nd state.
On the basis of watermark research Hinterding concludes that the 9th state was executed in 1631, not 1633, but that the 11th state was printed not earlier than 1648.

H 54, BB 31-K, G 8, M 52, Mz 14, RA 20-32, Cl 7, W 7, Bl 211, Du 7, CD 55
Broos 1985, p. 32; Rembrandt by himself  1999, p. 143-144; Rembrandt’s eyes 1999, p. 35ff ; Rembrandt creates Rembrandt  2000, p. 126; Rembrandts Leidse Tijd 2005, p. 199; Dickey 2004, p. 24-27; Hinterding 2006, p. 71ff; The Painter at Work 2009, p. 4; Broos 2012, p. 38; Dat kan beter! 2013, p. 18-19; Baas 2015, p. 46-47; Bikker 2019, p. 60;