The copperplate was in the sale by Jean de Bary (1759, lot 53) and sold to Kleinhems. It then appeared in the collection 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 1410), 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 the Graphische Sammlung Albertina in Vienna.

This is the last etching by Rembrandt with a picture of ‘everyday life’. The statue cast by the smith, a woman with two children, represents Caritas (Charity). It is remarkable that the light seems to come from two directions. From the left side from the open fire and from the right from a window. The peculiar (and incorrect) identification as a goldsmith stems from a sequence of translations.

The print was originally called Het smidje (the little smith) and then translated into French as orfèvre (the goldsmith). In English it remained as such.

Luijten thinks that Rembrandt was inspired by an engraving, The smith, by Dirck Vellert (ao Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge).
Some authors see the influence of the sculptors Hendrik (father) and Pieter (son) de Keyser in the way Caritas is pictured.

There is a copy in the same direction, signed by Harald Arthur Sallberg (1916, 75 x 57 mm, WB).

The etching is considered as special by Coppier.

NH lists three states of which only the first by Rembrandt. Most other authors list two states, Nowell-Usticke three. From his 2nd state there are later impressions by P.F. Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1^st state (NH, WB, R361) the shading along the lowest beam of the roof on the right is not yet there. The vertical drypoint shading right of the and under the left-hand of the smith is well visible. Early impressions are mainly on Japans paper.
In the 2^nd state (NH, WB final, R362) fine vertical shading is added along the beam beside the furnace°. In later impressions this  shading wears away, making the state difficult to recognize. This state is probably by Watelet (NH). Later, unchanged impressions are by P.F. Basan and Jean.
In the 3^rd state (NH/NU) Bernard has made retouches and rebitten the plate. There is horizontal shading to the right of the hand of the smith. According to Hind the vertical lines have disappeared before the 1906 edition.

Many impressions of the 1st state are on Japanese paper. There are counterproofs of the 1st state in Coburg, Lausanne, the Alte Pinakothek and the Albertina.
The etching appears (unchanged) in the Recueil de Basan, impressions very good (NU) and in the edition by Alvin Beaumont (1906).

H 285, BB 55-D, G 119, M 295, Mz 277, RA 361-362, Cl 125, W 127, Bl 94, Du 124, CD 208, S 61-63.
Hinterding 2008, p. 255ff;

NH: 1st state of III/WB: 1st state of II,
An early and very sharp impression on Japanese paper.
Sheet 75/76 x 55/57 mm, cut at or slightly within the platemark (= 0%).

In the collection of the Russian lawyer Samuel Solomonovitsh Scheikevich (Moscow 1842-1908 Paris, Lugt 2367). His collector’s mark in blue ink verso.
In the posthumous sale of his collection at the Hotel Drouot in Paris in May 1910, lot 785.
In the collection of the French professor at the Sorbonne Henri Joachim Delacroix (1873-1937, Paris, Lugt 3604), his collector’s mark in black ink verso.
The collection remained with his heirs and was sold at the Hotel Drouot in Paris in March 1962.

The Rotunda at Exchange Square, Hong Kong, January 2008
Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), Het Markiezenhof (Bergen op Zoom), Stedelijk Museum Zutphen, Het Hannemahuis (Harlingen), Museum Gouda, Stadsmuseum Harderwijk, March 2013-August 2015; Stedelijk Museum Vianen, October 2017 – January 2018;
Rembrandt in Black & White, Bozar Expo (Brussels), February-May 2016;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;