Het nieuwe kinder-spel / playsierig om te lesen / komt jongens loopt en koopt / het werd van elk geprezen 1765 - 1767

This playful print, “The New Children’s Game,” was made by the widow Hendrik van der Putte, using woodcut and letterpress techniques. The entire sheet is covered with small scenes of children playing, each captioned with a rhyming couplet, promising a playful lesson. The images are crisply defined by bold black lines, typical of woodcut, and then dabbed with just a few touches of watercolor. The overall effect is both graphic and lively. The processes used to make this print are telling. Woodcut is a relatively inexpensive form of image reproduction, meaning that it could be sold at a lower price, making it more accessible to a wider audience. Similarly, the letterpress text suggests the growing importance of literacy and education among the middle classes. The artist’s status as a widow is also significant. It speaks to the increasing role of women in the commercial sphere, particularly in the printing trade. The production of this print then, is tied to wider social issues of education, commerce, and gender.