Jonge moeder voedt haar kind met zuigfles 1756 - 1817

Louis Bernard Coclers made this drawing of a young mother bottle-feeding her child sometime around the late 1700s. Although seemingly just a simple genre scene, it can be read as commenting on social issues of its time in the Netherlands. The rise of foundling homes and the practice of wet-nursing had become topics of social and political debate. Many saw bottle-feeding as a modern, scientific alternative. It was a period of enlightenment thinking, of finding rational solutions. Bottle-feeding allowed women to return to work, or to pursue other interests, questioning traditional gender roles. We see a tender moment, but the drawing is more than just a depiction of motherhood; it reflects changing attitudes toward women, family, and societal progress. To understand Coclers' drawing further, one could research Dutch social policies, and pamphlets and treatises on childcare from the era. Context is key to unlocking the complex meanings embedded in this seemingly simple image.