The Tiny Hammers

The showroom of a cabinetmaker's workshop in a town on the Rhine on a pale overcast afternoon, soft grey daylight from a tall window, inlaid cabinets soft along panelled walls, on a reddish mahogany table with a fine brass bead moulding and four slender square legs a long trapezoid dulcimer with taut strings and black tuning pins, behind it a slim seated lady figure seen from behind, face turned fully away toward the strings, high-piled pale blond hair with a ribbon, a pearl necklace, a pale silver-grey silk gown with lace flounces, two tiny hammers in her hands above the strings, on the floor an opened travelling case with pale wood wool.