Man met twee manden en een kruik 1648 - 1677

Harmen ter Borch created this sketch of a man with baskets and a jug using pen in gray ink in the Netherlands sometime in the mid-17th century. It’s a study of a common worker during the Dutch Golden Age. We see a man carrying a heavy load. The sketch is a quick record of everyday life, reflecting the economic activity and social hierarchy of the time. Ter Borch's choice of subject matter elevates the working class, suggesting a society where labor and commerce were increasingly valued, at least as artistic subject matter. The Dutch Republic was a center of trade and innovation and artists like Ter Borch documented the lives of its people. To understand the social context of this drawing, one might look to period documents that describe the economic activities and the representation of labor in Dutch society.