The copperplate was probably in the sale by Clement de Jonghe (1679, as 53 Rembrants vader). It later appeared in the sale by Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 70) 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 1444), 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) to Dr H. Berger (Beverly Hills). The plate was used to produce approx. 2500 prints as the Millennium Impressions in 1998. In 2003 it was sold, together with seven other plates, to Park West Galleries in Southfield, Michigan. They actively marketed impressions of this plate and probably printed many more. For more details, see the separate chapter on the Millennium Impressions.

The hat of the man is a kolpak, a typical Polish Jewish headdress. The way the face and hat are worked out in detail in contrast with the quickly drawn, loose lines for the coat, is similar to the technique used in The White Negress (B 357), dated in the same year.

The assumption that the sitter is Rembrandts father is based upon a likeness with a painting Bust of an old man in a fur cap, dated 1630 (Corpus A29, Bredius 76 now in the Tiroler Landesmuseum, Innsbruck). Van Vliet made a print from this painting which was later copied by François Langlois as a portrait of the Jewish philosopher Philon of Alexandria. This explains why Rembrandts etching was also called Philon the Jew by some authors.

NH lists three copies of which two in the same direction. Copy B is a deceptive copy by James Bretherton (103 x 83 mm, WB 1). Copy C is signed by Costantino Cumano (102 x 86 mm, WB 2).
There is one copy in reverse (copy A) by James Hazard, inscribed Rt. 1630 (85 x 59 mm, WB 3).

The plate was made by a pupil according to Coppier.
The plate is not by Rembrandt according to Singer.

NH lists six states, of which the final three not by Rembrandt. Most other authors list two states, just the original and the cut version, not the alterations made later by other hands. Nowell-Usticke lists one trial proof and six states, from his 3rd state there are later impressions by Watelet, P. Basan, Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, R855/Trial proof a NU) the plate edges are uneven and inky.
In the 2nd state (NH/1st state NU) an engraved framing line is added around the image, apparently to show where the plate was to be cut. The extreme right-hand tip of the cloak is clear of the lower right corner (NU). A slipped stroke appears over the right earº.
In the 3rd state (NH/2nd state WB final, NU, R856) the plate is cut, the corners are slightly rounded, the tip of the cloak now touches the lower right corner. In later impressions the drypoint lines covering part of the white fur lining of the coat disappear.
In the 4th state (NH/3rd state NU P. Basan) a few short lines are added on top of the right ear, making the slipped stroke hardly visibleº.
In the 5th state (NH/4th state NU, H.L. Basan) diagonal shading is added to the centre of the turban. The work in the lower right corner is gone (NU). The pupils are weak (NU).
In the 6th state (NH) new lines are added to the temple and cheek. Cross-hatching is added in several places.
In the 5th state (NU Jean) the work in the lower right corner is brought back, making this state similar to the 2nd state. The eyes are weak.
In the 6th state (NU Bernard, Beaumont) the cap and cloak are reworked. There is strong diagonal shading added to the upper part of the cap, slightly right of the centre. In later impressions there is a strong dark patch to the left of the white collar, just above the right shoulder.

Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions in the Recueil de Basan to be very good.

In the 3rd state: Double-headed eagle; Strasbourg bend; Strasbourg lily; Strasbourg lily with GvH; Some of these are posthumous (HD).

H 22, BB 30-F, G 299, M 36, Mz 32, RA 855-856, Cl 314, W 319, Bl 266, Du 314, CD 26
Hinterding 2006, p. 326; Hinterding 2008, p. 564-566; Rembrandts Radierungen 2011, p. 36-37; Baas 2015, p. 86-87;

NH: 3rd state of VI/WB: 2nd and final state.
A good and dark impression, probably a somewhat later impression of the 3rd state. The accidental scratch is still well visible.
Sheet 108 x 89/90mm, wide margins of 3 to 4 mm all around (+13%).
No watermark. Vertical chain lines at approx. 30 mm.

In the collection of Max Egon Fürst zu Fürstenberg (1863-1941, Donaueschingen, Lugt 995), his collector’s mark in brown ink verso;
It could have been in his sale with C.G.Boerner (Leipzig) in November 1932.
In the collection of Richard Holtkott (Köln 1866 -1950 Rhöndorf, Lugt 4266), his collector’s mark in blue ink verso;
After the death of his wife in 1956, his two sons and their heirs have gradually sold the collection, like in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with Swann Galleries in New York.

Rembrandt in Black & White, Chateau des Penthes (Geneva), June-October 2016;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;