The copperplate was in the sale by Clement de Jonghe (1679) as 39 dry troontjens. It later appeared in the sale by Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 74) 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 1448), 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 collection of George and Ilona Kremer (Wassenaar – Foundation Aetas Aurea).

The portraits in the studies are all very easily painted, with full spontaneity. The two heads on the right and below are clearly portraits of Saskia, the third head is another person.

Rembrandt has made similar drawings with various portraits on one sheet, like Benesch 340 and 360.

NH lists no less than thirteen copies, proving the early popularity of the plate. There are two copies in the same direction.
Copy A is by Georg L:eopold Hertel, inscribed Rembrandt f. 1636 (two states, his nr. 23, 199 x 249 mm, on the same plate as B 365, WB 2). Copy C is attributed to Ignace De Claussin (185 x 137 mm, WB 1).
There are ten copies in reverse. Copy B, with the lower head only, is attributed to Claude-Henri Watelet (61 x 51 mm).
Copy D is signed JB Le Sueur 1768 (110 x 148 mm). Copy E is by Francesco Novelli, also with the lower head only (three states, his nr 33, 90 x 77 mm, WB 4). Copy F is by Costantino Cumano, with two heads only (160 x 108 mm, WB 3). Copy G is by Booth Grey, signed BG (85 x 77 mm). Copy H is signed by Johann Andreas Colizzi, the upper right figure only (61 x 55 mm).
Copy I is also by Colizzi, now the upper left figure only. Copy J is signed by Ernst Wilhelm Jan Bagelaar, the upper right figure only (two states, 78 x 74 mm). Copy K is a wood engraving by Predhomme after a drawing by Louis Marvy , included in Blanc 1861 (140 x 120 mm). Copy L is signed by Ernst Wilhelm Jan Bagelaar, the upper left figure only (61 x 51 mm, WB 7).
Copy M is again by Bagelaar, the lower figure only (61 x 52 mm, WB 8). It is included in the collection “Rembrandt in Black & White”, nr 353.
An anonymous copy in reverse signed Soho 1820, with at the top Rembrandt’s family (105 x 88 mm) is mentioned by White-Boon, but not by NH.

The etching is considered as special by Bartsch and De Claussin.

NH lists three states, of which only the first by Rembrandt. Most other authors list one state only, Hind two, Nowell-Usticke three, from his 2^nd state there are later impressions by P. Basan, Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1^st state (NH, WB only, R975, NU) there is a long horizontal line across the bottom, 11 mm up. Not mentioned in the text of NH, but well visible in the ‘Plates’ section°. The shading to the left of the cheek and brow on the upper right woman consists mainly of horizontal parallels. The lower left leg of the ‘R’ in the signature is missing.
In the 2^nd state (NH, NU – P. Basan, H.L. Basan, Jean) some of the worn spots are retouched. In the shading left of the mouth of the woman upper right the horizontal lines are no longer visible. The lower left leg of the ‘R’ in the signature is now well visible°. The stroke is extended and now touches the letter. There is also fine retouching on the hat and crisscross hatching below the nostril of the lower woman.
In later impressions by Basan and Jean the bottom line is worn out. In late impressions there is a 10 mm diagonal scratch about 25 mm from the right border. According to WB and NU, this is the supposed 1st state of Hind.
In the 3^rd state (NH, NU – Bernard, Beaumont) the plate is strongly and skilfully rebitten and reworked, according to NU by Bernard. It is stronger and darker than the 1^st state. The horizontal line is worn out, the scratch above it very faint. There are strong right-to-left diagonals in the shadow to the left of the brow of the woman at the right. The background is very rough and spotty.

There are at least four contemporary editions which can be dated to a period between 1637 and 1652, but the plate was frequently reprinted posthumous.
Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions in the Recueil de Basan (without rework) to be fairly good.

In the 1st state: Countermarks AD and LAK; Single-headed eagle (c. 1635-37); Strasbourg lily with cm WK’ (c. 1652); Various later ones.

H 152, BB 37-D, G 334, M 130, Mz 92, RA 975-976, Cl 358, W 362, Bl 251, Du 356, CD 113, S 143.
Rembrandt’s Women 2001, p. 145; Hinterding 2008, p. 609-611

NH: 1st state of III/WB: only state
A somewhat light impression, especially in the area under the lower woman’s head. The incomplete shape of the R of the signature and the remains of the horizontal scratch indicate a 1st state. Also, the fine horizontal lines left of the mouth of the woman upper right are clearly visible.
Sheet 145 x 99/98 mm, thread margins of approx. 1 mm all around (+3%).
Watermark: Foolscap with five-pointed collar (A/F 19, not listed in NH), very clear and complete. Vertical chain lines at approx. 22 mm.

Rembrandt, fotograaf avant-la-lettre, Museum De Reede (Antwerp), January – May 2023;
Rembrandt, 17th century photographer, Daegu Art Museum (Korea), November 2023 – March 2024;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;