3-062-246 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A kraamkamer (birth-room). Additional Info: One of the women is handing round sweetmeets, a custom which still exists in the Netherlands to mark the baptism of a baby: today the sweetmeats are "beschuit met muisjes" (rusk with mouse, the mouse being aniseed with a sweet coating, pink for a girl and blue for a boy). The women are the "gossips", i.e. Godsiblings or god-parents, who support the parents and the child.