Carte-de-visite Portraits of Domestic Workers

The woman in the upper left photograph is Lina Hamming, a domestic worker in Amsterdam. Hamming was one of thousands of women who worked in the households of wealthy families. We do not know the names of the other women, but we do know their occupation: domestic workers. They wore the characteristic white aprons and caps. The baskets and the dustpan and brush indicate their duties in the household.