Pieter de Hooch - Woman with a Child in a Pantry [c.1660], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.
A mother and child are standing on a chequered, tiled floor. All the doors are wide open and we can see through to the cellar, the front part of the house and the other side of the street. In the front room there is a chair on a wooden platform. Sitting on a platform, a 'soldertien', one could get a good view of life outside without being bothered by the cold rising from the floor. Pieter de Hooch also painted other aspects of daily life. The woman has tucked her skirt in to stop it getting dirty and around her sleeves she is wearing 'morsmouwen'. The woman is handing the child a German stoneware jug.
It is possible that Pieter de Hooch used his wife and eldest son as models. Although the child is wearing a dress and has long hair, it is still clearly a boy. Until about 1900, it was quite usual for small boys to wear dresses, although there were differences between boys and girls clothes. This boy can be recognised from his jerkin - a typical male jacket. Girls wore sharply tapered corslets. The child has two reins attached to his shoulders which could be used to keep him in check when walking.
[Oil on canvas, 65 x 60.5 cm]
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