Representing female labour at the dawn of the Dutch Golden Age

This article examines the representation of women's labour in the series of paintings by Isaac Claesz. van Swanenburg known as the Old and New Trades (c.1594-c.1612). Earlier studies have focused upon van Swanenburg's realistic depiction of the Leiden textiles trade but had little to say about his innovative representation of women at work. This article contends that van Swanenburg presents women alongside men as economic and moral contributors to the new sayes industry - both as low-status labourers as well as participants in trade - and as such contributes to ongoing reassessments of the representation of gender in Dutch Golden Age art. © The Social History Society 2010.