Portret van een zittende peuter met hoepel en een staand meisje met pop 1873 - 1883

This is a photograph titled ‘Portret van een zittende peuter met hoepel en een staand meisje met pop’ by Huijsen & Zoon. In this image, we see two young children, likely siblings. The younger one sits on a stool with a hoop, while the elder stands beside them holding a doll. The outfits are very dark, perhaps alluding to mourning dress. The doll held by the elder child could reflect the limited roles deemed appropriate for young girls at the time. The setting appears to be a studio, with carefully arranged props that reinforce the subjects' social standing. There is a stillness here, both in the children's poses and in the muted tones of the photograph. It invites us to consider childhood within the framework of 19th century societal expectations and the weight of inherited histories. It causes one to reflect on childhood and how children are never truly free from the constraints of their time.