Boerenjongen wijzend met de rechterhand 1778 - 1808

Aletta de Freij made this watercolor of a peasant boy pointing in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. It is a lovely, simple piece, but consider: every element in this image tells a story of manual labor. The paper itself, although appearing commonplace to us now, was then a precious commodity, handmade from pulped rags. The watercolor paints were carefully mixed, perhaps with pigments derived from minerals and plants. The boy’s clothes, too, were the product of many hands, from the cultivation of flax or wool to the spinning of thread, the weaving of fabric, and the cutting and sewing of the garments. And let’s not forget the boy’s wooden shoes, or clogs, shaped with hand tools from a single block of wood. De Freij has given us more than just an image of a young farmhand, but also a snapshot of a world where nearly everything was the result of skilled work.