Nieuwjaarswens van de Amsterdamse porders voor het jaar 1845 1844 - 1845

This New Year's wish from the Amsterdam 'porders' for 1845 is a printed sheet combining image and text. The 'porders' were the city's delivery men. These sheets were offered door-to-door in exchange for a small donation, a practice that reveals the social and economic realities of the time. Made in the Netherlands, this artwork reflects a society marked by both religious traditions and growing urban poverty. The text itself is a poem, expressing hopes for good fortune in the coming year, and appealing to the better nature of the more affluent citizens of Amsterdam to support the labouring class. We see the porders in the image at the top, going about the city. They are contrasted with the solid brick of the houses and institutions of the city. To fully understand this piece, we would need to look at archives on Dutch urban life, as well as studies of its popular printed ephemera, to understand better its place in the visual culture of the time.