The copperplate was in the sale by Clement de Jonghe (1679) as 8 slaapende naeckte vrouwtjen. Then an unknown owner added two dots. It later appeared in the sale by Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 56) and was sold via Fouquet to Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786). It then 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 1432), 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 the British Museum, on loan from a private collector.

This print is part of the four etchings Rembrandt made in 1658 of nude women. It is traditionally referred to as depicting a sleeping woman. In the inventory list of Valerius Röver it is called het slapende vrouwtje and in the de Burgy sales catalogue (1755) even as Een naakt slaapend vrouwtje, leggende met de billen bloot (A nude sleeping woman, lying with her buttocks naked).
Then Bartsch suggested that it was in fact a dark skinned woman, calling it Negress lying down. Recently, partially based on the lighter versions of the 1st state, this assumption has been disputed and the original title has been restored.

Münz thinks that Rembrandt used the same model here as in B197, B199 and B200. He also points at an etching by Campagnola (Galichon 13).

There is a copy in reverse published by Johann Hertel, inscribed Rembrandt. Del. (91 x 162 mm).

The etching is considered as special by Rovinsky.

NH lists six states, only the first two by Rembrandt. The 3rd state (with the two dots) is ‘new’. Most other authors list three states. Nowell-Usticke one trial proof and five states, from his 2nd state there are later impressions by Watelet, P.Basan, Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, R566/NU trial proof A) there are white areas at the top.
In the 2nd state (NH, WB, R567/1st state NU) there is crosshatching on the top of the pillow at the right of the head and the sheet under the waist. The buttocks are not clearly defined (NU).
In the 3rd state (NH only) two dots are added in the blank spot in the upper left corner.
In the 4th state (NH/3rd state WB final, R568/2nd state NU Watelet, P.Basan) the blank spaces at the top are filled in with cross-hatching, also covering the two dots. The horizontal line under the signature is extended to the left margin. The buttocks are now smoothly rounded. In later impressions, probably by Basan, the thighs are strongly outlined. In the 5th state (NHD) the white spots at the upper margin are shaded with cross-hatching, well visible above the head. New lines are added to the back an buttocks.
In the 3rd state (NU H.L. Basan) the buttocks are almost square, the right buttock hardly marked. Later impressions are badly worn.
In the 4th state (NU Jean, Bernard) the background and the body are retouched and rebitten. There is further diagonal left-to-right shading in the triangular space approx. 50 mm to the left of the right lower corner.
In the 6th state (NH/5th state NU Bernard, Beaumont) there is much rework. The shoulders are completely restored.

Of the 1st state (NU trial proof A) only one impression is known, on Japanese paper, in the Bibliothèque Nationale.
Of the 2nd state NH lists at least 30 impressions. Many of these are on Japanese or Chinese paper and even one on vellum (in Dresden).
Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions (unchanged) the Recueil de Basan to be only good.

In the 3rd state: Seven Provinces A’. a (> 1665).
In the 4th state: Countermark Y A.b.

H 299, BB 58-E, G 197, M 300, Mz 142, RA 566-568, Cl 202, W 202, Bl 169, Du 202, CD 256.
Rembrandt’s Women 2001, p. 229; Hinterding 2008, p. 373-376;

NH: 2nd state of VI/WB 2nd state of III
A good impression on thin laid paper. Probably a 2nd (contemporary) state based on the countermark. The two dots are not clearly visible, nor is the extended line left of the signature. Sheet 85/87 x 163 mm, margins of approx. 1 to 2 mm all around (+10%).
Countermark DG, similar to Hinterding DG.a. Vertical chain lines at approx. 25 mm.

In the collection of Sir Byron Edmund Walker (1848 – 1924).
Bequeathed to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, inventory number 1667. Their labels and deaccession stamp on the mount.

Rembrandt, 17th century photographer, Daegu Art Museum (Korea), November 2023 – March 2024;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;