Gezicht op de Nieuwe Stadsherberg te Amsterdam 1871

Willem Hendrik Eickelberg created this lithograph of the Nieuwe Stadsherberg in Amsterdam. Though the print lacks a precise date, it offers a window into the city's commercial life in the late 19th century. Here, the port is a hive of activity, full of men loading and unloading cargo, suggesting a booming economy that relied heavily on manual labor. The composition is dominated by the male figures who perform the physical work of the port, with no representation of women or other possible gender identities, highlighting the gendered division of labor at the time. The ships represent a gateway to global trade, but also to colonialism and its impact on both the colonizers and the colonized. This landscape, therefore, is not just a picturesque scene, but a reminder of the complex and often inequitable systems that shaped the era. It prompts us to reflect on whose stories are being told and whose are being omitted.