Jonge vrouw dekt een tafel in een rijkelijk gedecoreerd vertrek 1851 - 1909

Théodore Joseph Cleynhens created this etching, entitled “Young woman setting a table in a richly decorated room,” sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The etching is produced by carefully incising lines into a metal plate, inking the plate, and then using a press to transfer the image onto paper. The resulting print has a distinctive texture and a unique visual quality, which results in an artwork that feels both intricate and immediate. The image depicts a domestic scene, yet it hints at a wider world of social class. The labor of setting the table, usually invisible, is brought to the forefront, and is further emphasized by the careful work required to produce the etching itself. By attending to both the scene and the means by which it was created, we can appreciate the way that the materials and processes of artmaking are never neutral, but always speak to the conditions of their own making, in this case asking us to consider the nature of women’s work, then and now.