Interesting little puzzle. This painting on canvas by Matthijs Naiveu, signed below left, was offered at the Venduehuis in The Hague in 2022 and went unsold.
Portrait of Ida Maria Cromhout cleaning herring in the garden of her house on Herengracht, Amsterdam
Lot 4826, Auction House De Zwaan Amsterdam. Signed and dated 1690
Now coming up for auction in November 2023 at De Zwaan Amsterdam, with the sitter identified as “Ida Maria Cromhout cleaning herring in the courtyard of her house on Herengracht”. I wonder what research led to this identification! Wasn’t mentioned in the earlier auction.
Looking into the life of Ida Maria Cromhout, we find she was a daughter of Jacob Cromhout and Margaretha Wuytiers. The family lived on Herengracht 366, which is one of four connected buildings called “Cromhout Houses” after the extremely wealthy catholic merchant Jacob Cromhout who commissioned them in 1662 from famous architect Philips Vingboons.
Originally a coach house belonged to Herengracht 366, Huidenstraat 16. If the identification of the sitter and location are correct, could this be the coach house we see in the background to the left? Intriguing …
Ida Maria was born in 1649. She married Adriaan Roest van Alkemade when she was twenty, the year her father died. The couple had two sons. Naiveu was apparently acquainted with the couple: he painted “the newborn baby”, celebrating the birth of their second son, Adrianus, (baptised December 23, 1674). The painting, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is signed and dated 1675. Father Adriaan Roest is the figure looking toward the viewer in the right background in that painting.
I hope I can go to the viewing and ask around. I somehow cannot imagine that such a wealthy woman would clean her own herring in her courtyard!
Rembrandt's Room 
Spannend … ben benieuwd naar het vervolg!
Jeanne van der Stappen