painted by Albert Scherf with the tenebrist scene of a pair of cardsharps and their victim after Valentin de Boulogne, signed lower right 'A Scherf', reverse impressed 'K.P.M.' under the sceptre flanked by letters and above incised dimensions '340-290', inscribed 'Falschspieler' and further dimensions in millimetres '344x290', in a reeded giltwood mount and ebonised frame 40 x 49.5cm overall

Valentin de Boulogne (1594-1632) painted his 'Cardsharps' (Falschspieler) in circa 1614-15, obviously familiar with Caravaggio's treatment of the subject executed about twenty years earlier. Acquired in the mid 18th century by Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, displayed in the Royal Galleries of Dresden and still on display in the city at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (No.Gal.-Nr. 408), in the past the painting was indeed commonly misattributed to Caravaggio.

Albert Scherf (1876–1953) together with his brother Louis, another porcelain painter, were trained by Albert Schünze at the Lichte technical school of drawing, painting, modelling and ceramics, which had been established in the Lichtetal of Thuringia in 1862 under the auspices of the Prince of Sachsen-Meiningen. He is known particularly for his skill with chiaroscuro, a talent palpably displayed on this plaque.