The copperplate may have been in the sale by Clement De Jonghe (1679 as 34 buuren praatende). It was in the sale by Jean de Bary (1759, lot 52) and sold to Ottens. It then appeared in the collections of Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786) and 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 1414), 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.

As in all nightpieces, the copper in the darker portions of the picture quickly wore out, making rework necessary.

For a long period this print was known as the Schoolmaster, which title was suggested by Gersaint. Daulby and Wilson supported him stating that the woman is standing outside, looking into the school.
But in fact it shows a hurdy-gurdy man going by the doors to play and earn a living. Rembrandt made an earlier etching with a similar subject, The strolling musicians (B 119).
In the 1755 sale of De Burgy the title was Een Lieremannetje by een vrouwtje dat in de Avondstond over de Deur legt (a hurdy-gurdy player with a woman leaning out of the door).

Rembrandt etched this subject earlier (B 119), many more artists made paintings or drawings of it, including Adriaan van Ostade (1610-1685) and Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638). Hellerstedt pointed at a painting by David Vinckboons (1576-1629), now in the Rijksmuseum.

The New Hollstein lists five copies of which only one anonymous copy (E) in the same direction (80 x 60 mm, WB 1, not traced by NH).
There are four copies in reverse. Copy A is by G.L.Hertel, inscribed Rembrandt (93 x 62 mm, WB 3). Copy B is by James Hazard (89 x 59 mm, WB 2). Copy C is by Jean Sauveur Legros (89 x 59 mm). Copy D is signed and dated H.Hunter|1840 (90 x 59 mm)

The plate is not by Rembrandt according to Singer.

New Hollstein lists four states, of which only the first by Rembrandt. Other authors list one (White-Boon) or two (Hind and Biörklund) or three states (Münz). Nowell-Usticke lists three states, from his 2^nd state there are later impressions by Watelet, P.Basan, Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
The 1^st state (NH, WB final, R373) is before the fine drypoint retouching.
In the 2^nd state (NH, R374, BB H, NU Watelet, P.Basan, Basan, Jean) a fine vertical drypoint line runs on the woman’s left shoulder. In later impressions there is much fine and close drypoint work in the shadows, like behind the woman near the door, making these shadows darker.
In the 3^rd state (NH, H, NU, Bernard, Beaumont) horizontal lines are added to the neck and cap of the player°.
White-Boon considers Rovinsky’s difference in states a difference in printing.
In the 4^th state (NH) the plate is reworked again. There are horizontal lines on the shoulder and arm of the player and above his cap.

There is an impression on Japanese paper in the Rijksmuseum and a counterproof in the Albertina.

The etching appears in the Recueil de Basan, impressions good (NU).
Recueil de H.L. Basan – Page 20               NH: 2^nd state of IV/WB: only state.
A good impression. The added horizontal lines at the neck and cap of the player are not visible, indicating a 2^nd state (NH).

 Recueil de A. Beaumont –  Sheet 45        NH: 4^th and final state/WB: only state.
A very dark impression, most details are lost.

In the 1^st state: Basilisk (c. 1640-47); Paschal lamb (c. 1651); Arms of Amsterdam; Countermark I.

H 192, BB 41-N, G 126, M 271, Mz 263, RA 373-374, Cl 129, W 131, Bl 99, Du 128, CD 140
Hinterding 2008, p. 265-266;

New Hollstein: 1^st state of IV/White-Boon: only state.
A good, contemporary impression on laid paper. The extra lines in the face of the woman are not present, confirming a 1^st state.
Sheet 94 x 64 mm, thread margins of 1 to 2 mm all around (+6%).
There is part of a watermark, possibly Arms of Amsterdam. Horizontal chain lines at approx. 25 mm.

Rembrandt in Black & White, Bozar Expo (Brussels), February – May 2016;