The sampling officials of the Amsterdam drapers' guild, known as "The Staalmeesters"

The prototype, signed and dated 1662 and later 1661, 191.5 x 279 cm, has been in the Rijksmuseum since 1808, on loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. Bredius, revised by H. Gerson, Rembrandt - The Complete Edition of the Paintings, 1969, pp.585/6, no.415, figs.327/9). It formerly hung in the Staalhof, the cloth-maker's office in Amsterdam.
Another copy by Johannes van der Linde after Rembrandt's Staalmeesters was sold in these rooms, 8 October 1997, lot 46, ill.(NLG 9,802).