Kleding van Nederlandse mannen en vrouwen in de zeventiende eeuw, plaat XXXI 1855 - 1857

This print, made by Emrik & Binger, depicts Dutch clothing styles of the seventeenth century. The lithographic process, which involves drawing with a greasy crayon on a flat stone and then printing, lends itself well to capturing the textures of the fabrics shown here. Look closely and you can see the heavy drape of the doctor’s robes, the elaborate ruffs of the nobleman and his wife, and the simple lines of the burgher’s dress. These weren’t just matters of personal taste. Seventeenth-century Dutch society was highly stratified. What you wore telegraphed your position in the world. Think, too, about the labor involved. While the printing of this image was relatively quick, the clothes themselves would have required countless hours of spinning, weaving, cutting, and sewing. Consider the amount of work involved in the production process. By attending to both the depicted materials and the printing process, we gain a deeper understanding of the social dynamics at play in this seemingly simple image.