A Barbershop

Adriaen van Ostade (1610–1685), pen and brown ink, brush and various shades of watercolour and bodycolour, 1673

A hairdresser is lathering a customer’s chin, before shaving him. The man is holding a bowl himself, to catch the soap and hair. At the back of the shop, the barber – both surgeon and haircutter – is binding a patient’s shin, helped by an assistant. The shop is decorated with the mysterious implements of the barber’s trade: bottles and pots, a distiller’s flask and a mounted fish.

  • Artwork typedrawing, aquarel
  • Object numberRP-T-1879-A-13
  • Dimensionsheight 204 mm x width 159 mm
  • Physical characteristicspenseel in waterverf en dekverf in kleuren en pen in bruin