Naaister bij een tafel met bloemenvaas 1850 - 1899

This etching by Geuchin depicts a woman sewing, with a vase of flowers on the table beside her. While seemingly a simple domestic scene, it speaks to the social conditions of labor and gender. Images such as this are most common in the Netherlands. This country had many charitable institutions that helped young girls and women find work as seamstresses. In a time when there were few options for women to become financially independent, the institutions helped to empower women by allowing them to earn their own income and therefore be less dependent on men. The woman is shown working, but the flowers suggest her gentility and elevate her above other working-class women. Understanding this image requires an attention to the history of social welfare, gender, and labor, drawing on archival materials to enrich our understanding of art.