Drie onbekende vrouwen met manden op het hoofd before 1897

This photogravure by Christiaan Johan Neeb captures three women in Tjabak Negari, each bearing a basket upon her head. The act of carrying burdens in this way is a potent symbol, resonant with echoes from antiquity to modernity. Consider the caryatids of ancient Greece, figures of women used as architectural supports, bearing the weight of entablatures. This motif speaks of endurance and strength, and a silent, steadfast resilience. The basket itself, a vessel of woven strands, echoes the cornucopia, a symbol of abundance and fertility. These symbols were often associated with the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, embodying the hope for plentiful harvests. In Neeb's image, this collective memory of burdens carried and abundance provided intertwines, inviting us to see these women not merely as figures in a landscape, but as enduring symbols of human perseverance. Their image resonates, their presence imprinted on our cultural consciousness.