The copperplate was not in any of the early sales or collections and is considered to be lost.

The title of this etching may well be inspired by an old anecdote, described by Gersaint, that this etching was made on the estate of Jan Six at a wager that Rembrandt could not complete the picture before a servant would return from a neighbouring village to fetch some mustard. The title is further supported by an inscription on an impression (in the Rembrandthuis) which reads den heer Six en Brugh (Mr Six and bridge). However, in 1915 Lugt identified the tower as that of Ouderkerk a/d Amstel and the location as the estate Klein Kostverloren, which belonged to Albert Coenraadszn Burgh, then burgomaster of Amsterdam. Since the estate of Six was in Hillegom, it is unlikely that the picture was made there. Given the very precise and minute lines that Rembrandt etched here, it is also unlikely that the plate was made in the open air instead of in his studio. The plate has always been a very popular one, as can be seen from the many copies made of it.

NH lists four copies in the same direction. Copy A is of the 1^st state, by James Bretherton, signed Rembrandt f. 1645 (127 x 222 mm, WB 2). Copy C is by Ignace Joseph De Claussin (in the Recueil de Basan, included in the collection ‘Rembrandt in B&W’, number 54, page 28, 125 x 222 mm, WB 1). D is a copy of the 3^rd state by John Burnet (130 x 224 mm, WB 3). Copy E is an anonymous etching (129 x 224 mm, WB 5).
There are two  copies in reverse. Copy B is of the 3^rd state by Giuseppe Sardi (1791, 118 x 230 mm, WB 4). Copy F is  anonymous, inscribed Rembrandt f 1641 (260 x 198 mm).

The etching is considered as special by Coppier.
Royalton-Kisch considers the 1st and 2nd state to be not authentic.

NH lists four states, all contemporary. All other authors list three states.
In the 1st state (NHD, WB, R572) neither of the men’s hats is shaded.
In the 2nd state the hat of the man in the front is shaded.
In the 3rd state (NHD only) the shape of the hat of the man in front is changed again, its crown is now flat.
In the 4th state (NHD/3rd state WB, R573) both hats are shaded. In later impressions the shadow on the hats wears away and scratches appear around the flag of the large boat and right of the trees left. Even later ones show scratches in the sky (in the middle) and near the margin under the bridge and a strong curved line on the ground under the bow of the boat. Rovinsky erroneously considered the copy by De Claussin in the Recueil de Basan as a 4th state.
There is uncertainty about various impressions of the 3rd state (like the one in the Rembrandthuis) in which the small lines in the hat of the man in the back are very faint, suggesting a 2nd state. Watermark research has added to the confusion.

Of the 1st state only one impression is known, in the British Museum.
Of the 2nd state four impressions are known.
Of the 3rd state only one impression is known, in the Bibliothèque Nationale.
Of the 4th state there are impressions on Chinese and Japanese paper.

In the 1st and 2nd state: Phoenix with countermark IB (1645).
In the 3rd state and 4th state: Foolscap with five-pointed collar (c. 1648).
In the 4th state: Arms of Amsterdam; Foolscap; Foolscap with five-pointed collar (c. 1650); Foolscap with seven-pointed collar.

H 209, BB 45-A, G 200, M 313, Mz 156, RA 572-573, Cl 205, W 205, Bl 311, Du 205, CD 171, S 88.
Kannegieter, Oud-Holland 42 1925 xiii, p. 71; M.Muller, De Papiere Waerelt, 1946, p. 139; Wandelingen 1998, p. 298-299; Rohde 2005, p. 114; Hinterding 2008, p. 376-379;