The original title to this work, Holl.(and) Interieur, assigned by Photographiche Centralblatt in 1903, has been changed by PhotoSeed in early 2017 as a result of information supplied by the present owner of the home seen in this photograph, which is located in Heerde, the Netherlands. The new information states the owner of the home at the time the photograph was taken was the painter Johannes Leonardus (Jan) Kleintjes. (1872-1955) In one part of the home used as his studio, Jan Kleintjes remodeled the interior of a room to be a copy of a typical farmer’s home, using it as a background for his genre paintings.

Speaking of the model peering through the window, this homeowner states:

The girl in a farmer’s traditional “Sunday” costume of the village is a model (although she is indeed a poor, small farm girl of this village.). It is certainly not a “Holland interior” (Holland being the western part of the Netherlands and this is the Veluwe, a distictively different part of our country, more to the east).

My original comments for this photo when first posted to this site:

This unusual and intriguing genre photograph could almost be described as allegorical in nature: a woman who appears to be sewing a garment sits at a table with her back to the camera while another woman stares through the window at her rigidly and with an expressionless demeanor. The simple title of Holland Interior given to the photograph establishes place however-the passing of over 100 years since Dr. Kleintjes took it gives a modern-day viewer pause as to its possible symbolism or motive.

Dr. Leon L. Kleintjes

(The) Veluwe: is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe’s largest sand drifts. (Wikipedia)

Heerde:  a municipality and town in the eastern Netherlands. (Wikipedia)