• Mrs. J. van Gogh-Bonger, Amsterdam
• V.W. van Gogh, Laren
• Van Gogh Museum inv F1028

Catalogues raisonnés:

• F1028: Faille, Jacob Baart de la (1970) [1928] The Works of Vincent van Gogh. His Paintings and Drawings, Amsterdam: J.M. Meulenhoff, no. 1028 .
• JH367 : Jan Hulsker (1980), The Complete Van Gogh, Oxford: Phaidon, no.  367.
  
• Sketch sent with letter VGM 348. There is another very similar version (a copy) F1029 JH366 in a private collection, Zurich.
• Letters
• Letter 344 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Monday, 21 May 1883. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. "But I would still prefer to see diggers, and find it more beautiful outside Paradise, namely where one thinks more of the severer ‘in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread’."
• Letter 347 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Wednesday, 30 May 1883. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. "I went into the dunes with Van der Weele recently. There we found a place where the dunes are being levelled for sand, a fine sight with fellows and wheelbarrows."
• Letter 348 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 3 June 1883. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. "I was in Dekkersduin with Van der Weele and there we came across the sand quarry, and I’ve been there since and had plenty of models day in, day out, and so the second is now done too.
  They are fellows with wheelbarrows and diggers. I’ll see that I do a croquis of them as well, but it’s a complicated composition and perhaps it may be hard to see both the one and the other in a croquis.
  The figures are drawn from extensive studies. I would very much like them to be reproduced. The first is on grey paper, the other on yellow."
• Letter 350 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Tuesday, 5 June 1883. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. "Wanted to tell you that Van der Weele saw my drawings this evening, his opinion was favourable and this gives me great pleasure. Do you know what I’ve done? Given the desirability of making some money if possible, I’ve sent small sketches of the two compositions to C.M. My hope is that this will perhaps result in his being ready to help carry out the whole of the plan I have, namely to do a series of drawings of work in the dunes."
• Letter 363 To Theo van Gogh, The Hague, Sunday, 22 July 1883. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. "So now my first consignment of photos to be shown to someone or other if needed coincides with your ‘as for the future, I can give you little hope’. Is there something in particular???
  I’m rather nervous about this. You must write again soon. Well, as you see, the photos are Sower — potato grubbers — Peat diggers. I’ve now done some more, Sand quarry, weed burners, Dung-heap, Potato grubber 1 figure, Coal loaders, and at Scheveningen this week I worked on Mending nets (Scheveningen fishermen’s wives).
  And two larger compositions of Dune workers (one of which I showed to Tersteeg again) which, although they’ll require a lot more labour, are still what I’d most like to complete.
  Long rows of diggers — poor fellows set to work by the city — in front of a piece of dune land that’s to be dug over. But to do that is terribly difficult."

• L'Œuvre de Vincent van Gogh: catalogue raisonné, F1028 
• The New Complete Van Gogh: Fully revised and enlarged edition of the Catalogue raisonné, JH367