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In the absence of signed and documented works by De Coster, all attributions have been based on Lucas Vorsterman's engraving after a lost original entitled The Trick-trak player. The present painting, which was also engraved by Vorsterman, shares a number of similarities with this key, lost work. Both compositions are multi-figural and lit by candlelight, with a figure in the foreground partially shading the light source. The artist adopts a low viewpoint in both paintings which means that the table-tops are hardly visible.
A second version of this composition, previously attributed to Georges de la Tour and depicting just the left-hand figure group, is in the Musée Municipal, Guéret.
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