The Lace Maker

Caspar Netscher's Lace Maker from 1662, in the Wallace Collection, depicts a young woman absorbed in the delicate craft of lace-making, a subject also famously treated by Vermeer. Netscher, a student of Gerard ter Borch, was one of the leading fijnschilders of the second half of the seventeenth century, specializing in elegantly painted genre scenes and portraits. The lace-making theme combined domestic virtue with the display of a luxury commodity that was one of the Netherlands' most valuable exports.

Netscher's polished technique renders the lace, bobbins, and the woman's skin with microscopic precision typical of the fijnschilder tradition. The smooth, enamel-like surface and careful attention to reflected light on fabric and metalwork demonstrate his refined technical mastery.