The copperplate was probably in the sale by Clement de Jonghe (1679, as 12 oude Persiaan). It later appeared in the sale by Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 46) and was sold via Fouquet to Claude-Henri Watelet. It then became part of the set of plates subsequently owned and used for printing Recueils by Pierre-François Basan, Henri-Louis Basan (his nr 1420), Auguste Jean (ca 1809), Veuve Jean, Auguste and Michel Bernard (1846), Alvin-Beaumont (1906) 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.

Although this etching is generally considered to be part of the series of beggars Rembrandt etched between 1628 and 1631, it is questionable if the man depicted here is indeed a beggar. In this composition the heavy coat and the fur are worked out in more detail than in earlier examples. In the De Burgy sale of 1755 this item was described as Een oude man met een Mantel om, zittende aan den Weg met een stokje (An old man with coat, sitting by the road with a stick). The man seems to be leaning to some sort of bank. Contrary to most other etchings, the light comes from the left.

There is one copy in the same direction (copy B), signed by David Deuchar, inscribed Rembrandt f (106 x 80 mm, WB).
There is also one copy in reverse (copy A), by Honoré Coussin, inscribed Rembran in the 2nd state (two states, 116 x 81 mm).

NH, as all authors, list three states, only the first by Rembrandt. From NU’s 3rd state there are later impressions by P.Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1^st state (NH, WB, R436, NU) the upper outline of the bank is a single line which does not reach the plate mark.
In the 2^nd state (NH, WB, NU) this line is continued to the margin of the plate by two lines meeting in an angle. The signature becomes faint (NU). A narrow white vertical strip appears on the lower left side due to foul biting. Probably not by Rembrandt.
In the 3^rd state (NH, WB, NU) the narrow white vertical strip at the lower left is shaded over

Of the 2nd state there is only one impression, in the Statens Museum in Copenhagen.
Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions in the Recueil de Basan to be strong.

In the 1st state: Double-headed Eagle.

H 14, BB 30-6, G 144, M 32, Mz 109, RA 436, Cl 148, W 149, Bl 115, Du 147, CD 14
Hinterding 2008, p. 291-292;

NH, WB: 1st state of III
A very good impression, before the correction of the foul biting and the double outline of the bank at left.
Sheet 119/120 x 85/84 mm, margins of 3 mm all around (+15%). Platemark well visible.
Watermark: Crowned double eagle (variant A.a.b., Hinterding 2006 II, p. 108, III, p. 177) dated ca. 1630. Vertical chain lines at approx. 28 mm.

Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), March – July 2013;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;