The Bakery Shop

Bread was an important part of the 17th-century Dutch diet. Grain from the Baltic was integral to Dutch prosperity and came to be called the moedernegotie (mother trade). In this work, a large duivekater—a sweet white bread baked in North Holland around the Feast of Saint Nicholas (December 6)—alludes to the economy’s heavy dependence upon grain.

The female shopkeeper is emblematic of the role of women in the merchant economy. During this period, women were legally permitted to conduct business in their husband’s absence because merchants traveled frequently for work. Women in the marketplace led to increased economic production and contributed to new patterns of consumption.